Jean Goldkette

American jazz bandleader. Born probably in France but possibly in Greece, his mother Angela Goldkette, was a circus performer from Denmark, his father unknown. Spending his childhood in Greece and Russia, where as a child prodigy he studied piano at The Moscow Conservatory. His family moved to America in 1911. Goldkette leased a ballroom in Detroit and his band Jean Goldkette And His Orchestra had great success, helping him forge a business empire acting as an agency for twenty orchestras & owning many dance halls. Born : March 18, 1899 in Valenciennes, France (or in Greece). Died : March 24, 1962 in Santa Barbara, California.