Charlie Echols was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He led several California-based dance bands in the 1930s that featured a large number of important early jazz and swing sidemen. Almost nothing is known of Echols's own life, including his birth and death dates; most of what is known about him is reconstructed from oral history interviews done by Albert McCarthy with musicians who had played in his bands, though the group did receive coverage in contemporaneous newspapers. Echols led a band based in Los Angeles starting in 1931, whose membership included , , , Lawrence Brown, Red Mack, and . The group was revamped in 1932 with Prince remaining and Bumps Myers and Kid Ory joining; soon after Jack McVea, Eddie Beal, Buddy Banks, and were added to the lineup. Echols left this ense