Goodman was notoriously hard on everyone but especially guitarists: he could, after all, summon the ghost of Charlie Christian with a flick of the wrist. One guitarist who had been in the Goodman band in the later years, name withheld upon request, turned a shade of purple when the famed swing clarinetist and bandleader's name was mentioned, then launched into a string of obscenities that would have shocked Larry Flynt. Reuss first played with Goodman in the mid-'30s, returned in the summer of 1936 for another stint of nearly two years in length, and then was back again for a year beginning in the summer of 1943, suggesting a pleasant or at least workable relationship.
Reuss also kept extremely busy during his heyday of freelancing. He ran his own teaching studio in New York City and was a regular session player in the NBC studios as well as many other recording sessions. He also worked for stretches in the bands of Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, and Paul Whiteman, among others. Reuss had been gigging with trumpeter Harry James when he decided to relocate to Los Angeles in 1945. From his West Coast base he continued combining studio sessions with teaching but also led his own trio. Reuss wrote several snappy compositions recorded by jazz stars such as Lionel Hampton, including Pickin' for Patsy and Shufflin' at the Hollywood. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi