The Savoy Bearcats were an eleven piece band that played at the Savoy in New York between the years of 1924 and 1926. The Savoy Bearcats were really quite a good, hot group. The leader of the band was violinist Leon Abbey. Before they landed the gig at the Savoy they went by the name of the Charleston Bearcats. The group was a co-operative, meaning that they equally split the income of the band among all of the band members. When their stint at the Savoy ended in 1927 the group became known as Leon Abbey's Band. Abbey took a band to Buenos Aires, Argentina for a year. The band returned to New York where Abbey lined up a job in Paris. The band decided that they were not interested in going to France, so Abbey formed another group that played in Europe and Asia for over a decade. Abbey didn't return to America until the outbreak of World War Two in 1939. He continued to lead bands in New York and Chicago until the 1960s when he retired from music.