[1] Holiday played rhythm guitar and banjo as a member of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra (1928–33).
He also recorded with Benny Carter (1934) and Bob Howard (1935) and worked with Charlie Turner (1935), Louis Metcalf (1935–36), and the Don Redman Big Band (1936–37).
Later, he fell ill with a lung disorder while on tour in Texas and was refused treatment at a local hospital.
When he finally managed to get treatment, he was only allowed in the Jim Crow ward of the Veterans Hospital, and by then pneumonia had set in and without antibiotics, the illness was fatal.
Two years later Billie Holiday recorded the song “Strange Fruit” in her father's memory.