Biography
Howdy Quicksell, whose moniker evoked the image of a wandering vendor, played crisp rhythmic banjo on numerous landmark sessions throughout a short-lived career. Between 1922 and 1927 he belonged to Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra, remaining through the years when Bix Beiderbecke was also in the group. He cut sides with Beiderbecke in 1925 and joined Frankie Trumbauer’s studio ensemble in 1927, where his performance of “Sorry” helped establish the piece in the Dixieland canon. Once the Goldkette band disbanded, Quicksell worked as a freelance musician for several seasons before leaving the profession entirely by the early 1930s and taking a job at a Michigan distillery.