His father led a family band, and his brothers Henry, Merritt, Richard, and Albert ("Abbie") all became noted professional musicians.

After the Rhythm Kings broke up in Chicago in 1924, Brunies joined the nationally famous Ted Lewis band, which he played with through 1934.

[1] After some time with Louis Prima's band he landed a steady gig at the New York City jazz club, Nick's, through 1938.

[1] Brunies often showed off his unusual technical abilities and bizarre sense of humor at the same time; for example he would lie on the floor and invite the largest person in the audience to sit on his chest while he played trombone.

On the advice of a numerologist, he changed his name to Georg Brunis in the late 1940s,[1] when he was playing at the 1111 (eleven-eleven) Club in Chicago.