In the 1930s and 1940s he played with some of the premier swing bands, including Luis Russell's, Benny Carter's, Red Allen's, and Fletcher Henderson's. He also played with Louis Armstrong, who had taken over Russell's band, from 1937 to 1940. From 1947 on he chiefly led his own groups. He recorded extensively both as a sideman and as a leader. He played for a long period of time in the forties with his ideal partner Red Allen, and then disappeared from the scene for several years. Higginbotham led several bands in the Fifties in Boston and Cleveland, appeared regularly at the Metropole in New York between 1956 and 1959,and led his own Dixieland band there in the Sixties.
He went on his first European tour with Sammy Price, appearing in Scandinavia, and worked once again briefly in 1964 with Louis Armstrong. After that things quietened down around Higginbotham. He died on May 26, 1973 in New York.
Higginbotham was considered to be the most vital of the swing trombone players. His strong, raucous sound on the trombone and wild outbreaks on stage were characteristic. Along with Jimmy Harrison and Jack Teagarden, Higginbotham contributed to the acceptance of the trombone in jazz music as a melodically capable instrument.
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