Groner played the bass and piano and variously worked with Nat Towles, Jimmie Lunceford and Horace Henderson.
[5] Groner was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, United States,[5] to a musical family, and began on violin as a child but quickly gave it up in favor of piano.
Unlike most of Henderson's band, Groner sought to avoid being rehired by Towles, and remained in New York to become one of the house singers at Minton's Playhouse; Betty Roche was the other.
This allowed him to work alongside Kenny Clarke and Thelonious Monk in the Minton's house band.
He then found a job in Jimmie Lunceford's band for a few months before returning to Chicago, where he joined Horace Henderson's new ensemble.