His orchestra was at Harlem's Smalls' Paradise in 1925 when a Russian impresario booked it as the pit band for a show titled The Chocolate Kiddies, scheduled to open in Berlin later that year, featuring music by Duke Ellington and starring the performers Lottie Gee and Adelaide Hall.[2] While in Berlin, the band, featuring such musicians as Doc Cheatham, Willie Lewis, Tommy Ladnier, Gene Sedric, a