Chick Webb came running up to me one night in the Rhythm Club, and he said, "Hey, man, I got a hell of a trumpet player for you. He was with me for a while, but he's too much for me. Fletcher (Henderson) heard him and hired him, but that style don't fit Fletcher's band…”

It was 1929 when Cootie [Williams] came into the band, and he soon became one of our most outstanding [trumpet] soloists. He began to use the plunger mute, one of our major tonal devices, and he used it very well…