An overview of Teddy Bunn's recording activities during the 1930s reveals a skilled guitarist working shoulder to shoulder with many of the top jazz musicians of his generation, invariably bringing out the best in every participant, for as he himself frankly explained: "I have a very good ear and can usually sense what the cats are going to play a split second before they do it." Born in Freeport, Long Island, in 1909, Theodore Leroy "Teddy" Bunn grew up in a multi-instrumental family and gained his first professional experience accompanying a calypso singer. Bunn's recording debut took place on September 16, 1929. On that day he made records with Walter "Fats" Pichon and Henry "Red" Allen as well as Duke Ellington's Cotton Club Orchestra. A few weeks later Bunn recorded with the Six Jolly Jesters, a hybrid hokum ensemble combining some of Ellington's men with a kazooist and a washboard player.