Jordan's first band, drawn mainly from members of the Jesse Stone band, was originally a nine-piece group, but he soon scaled it down to a sextet after landing a residency at the Elks Rendezvous club, at 464 Lenox Avenue, in Harlem.
Their next recording date, in March 1939, produced five sides, including "Keep a-Knockin'" (originally recorded in the 1920s and later famously covered by Little Richard), "Sam Jones Done Snagged His Britches" and "Doug the Jitterbug".