| Born and raised in the Midwest,
Condon got his start playing guitar and banjo in dance bands before settling
down in Chicago, then finally coming to New York in 1929. He didn't have
his own joint until 1945, but he certainly had his own ways. He was determined
to front mixed-race bands, opting for musicianship over what was politically
correct in those days. He even blew off a highly rated weekly radio gig
when, according to a critic at the time, he wouldn't "add a comedian, jive
talk a gushy gal singer, and the other lemon rinds and cherries that go
to make up the typical radio cocktail." |
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