He led many jazz and dance bands, of which the best known was his band of 1924 – 1929, which included, at various times, Bix Beiderbecke, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Eddie Lang, Frankie Trumbauer, and Joe Venuti, among others. In 1927 Paul Whiteman hired away most of Goldkette's better players. Goldkette later helped organize McKinney's Cotton Pickers and the Orange Blossoms, which became famous as the Casa Loma Orchestra. In the 1930s he left jazz to work as a booking agent and classical pianist.