trumbauer recruited bix beiderbecke for jean goldkette's victor recording orchestra, of which he became musical director. after leaving goldkette, he and beiderbecke worked briefly in adrian rollini's short lived "new yorkers" band, then joined paul whiteman in 1927. in 1927, trumbauer signed a contract with okeh and released a 78 recording of "singin' the blues", featuring beiderbecke on cornet and eddie lang on guitar. "singin' the blues" was a jazz classic originally recorded and released by the original dixieland jazz band in 1920. the okeh recording became a smash hit. fletcher henderson and his orchestra covered it in 1931 in the trumbauer-beiderbecke version.