After serving in the Army from 1942 to 1944, he moved to New York City and worked with Don Byas and Ben Webster.

He worked as a sideman with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ike Quebec, Slam Stewart, then led his own band with Terry Gibbs.

Late in the 1960s, he managed the rock band Henry Tree and performed regularly in the 1970s at the Smiling Dog Saloon in Cleveland with Ernie Krivda and Skip Hadden, mixing hard rock and free jazz.

[1] His next recording was on the album Another Time/Another Place (Muse, 1978) by Barry Altschul, then 298 Bridge Street (1981) by Kenny Werner, and Names (1983) by Jamey Haddad.

He entered a nursing home in 1999 and suffered dementia until his death seven years later, although he continued performing locally until late 2001.