In 1927, Fletcher Henderson's arranger and saxophone player Don Redman was invited to become the Cotton Pickers' musical director[2] and he assembled a band.
Towards the end of 1929, multiple soloists who were not regular members of the band sat in for a series of recordings.
Manager of the band was Jean Goldkette who arranged for the group to record "Birmingham Bertha" for him in July 1929.
A New McKinney's Cotton Pickers was organized in the early 1970s by David Hutson, using the arrangements by Don Redman.
[1] The band recorded several albums and featured banjoist Dave Wilborn, who was the only surviving original member.