Harold C. Fox

Chicago clothier and big-band trumpeter/bandleader who was highly influential in popularizing the zoot suit because he outfitted many of the biggest jazz musicians during that fashion's brief heyday in the early 1940s. At the same time, he was playing with a local all-white band led by Jimmy Dale and after Mr. Dale was drafted, took over the band and the name. He began integrating his band around 1945 by hiring vocalist Leon Ketchum. His Jimmy Dale Band became notable for being among the earliest that was thoroughly integrated, publicized as "The World's Greatest Mixed Band" and sometimes picketed by the KKK. It included many highly talented jazz musicians and toured with Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Billie Holiday, among others. Born 1910 Chicago, Illinois, USA Died 1996 Siesta Key, Florida, USA