Castor "Cass" McCord was an American jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 saxophonist. He was the twin brother of saxophonist Ted McCord. McCord started out as a member of Edgar Hayes

Edgar Hayes

Edgar Hayes was an American jazz pianist and bandleader.Hayes attended Wilberforce University, where he graduated with a degree in music in the early 1920s. In 1922 he toured with Fess Williams, and formed his own group, the Blue Grass Buddies, in Ohio in 1924...

's Blue Grass Buddies in 1924. He then attended Wilberforce University

Wilberforce University

Wilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically black university located in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans...

, where he played in the student band run by Horace Henderson

Horace Henderson

Horace W. Henderson Born in Cuthbert, Georgia , younger brother of Fletcher Henderson, was an American jazz pianist, organist, arranger, and bandleader....

. Later in the 1920s he moved from Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 to Atlantic City and then to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, where he played with the Mills Blue Rhythm Band

Mills Blue Rhythm Band

The Mills Blue Rhythm Band was an American big band of the 1930s.The band was formed in Harlem in 1930, with reedman Bingie Madison the first of its many leaders. It started life as the Coconut Grove Orchestra, changing to Mills Blue Rhythm Band when Irving Mills became its manager in 1931...

 and Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

 late in the 1920s. Time soon followed with Eubie Blake

Eubie Blake

James Hubert Blake was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, Blake and long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote the Broadway musical Shuffle Along, one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans...

 and Charlie Matson.

In the middle of the 1930s, McCord played in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 for a year and toured India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 with Leon Abbey

Leon Abbey

Leon Abbey was an American jazz violinist and bandleader.In the 1920s his eleven-piece band, known successively as the Charleston Bearcats, the Savoy Bearcats, and Leon Abbey's Band, was considered one of the best in jazz....

 in 1936. McCord led his own trio in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 in 1937, then worked with Walter Rains in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

 the next year. He moved back to New York near the end of the decade, returning to play under Abbey before joining the bands of Benny Carter

Benny Carter

Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...

, Eddie Mallory, and Claude Hopkins

Claude Hopkins

Claude Driskett Hopkins was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader.-Biography:Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1903. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his birth. His parents were on the faculty of Howard University...

.

In 1940, McCord left music to open a hairdresser

Hairdresser

Hairdresser is a term referring to anyone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques...

 shop in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, which he ran until his death in 1963.