Savoy Bearcats

{{Short description|American jazz band}}

{{More citations needed |date=February 2024}}

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The Savoy Bearcats were an eleven-piece jazz band, led by Leon Abbey, which was the house band at the Savoy Ballroom in New York City from its opening in 1926 to 1928. The band's name was changed from the Charleston Bearcats while they were at the Savoy.{{Cite journal |last=Serrano |first=Basilio |title=Puerto Rican musicians of the Harlem Renaissance |url=https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/377/37719206.pdf |journal=Centro |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=108 |quote=Around that time Abbey organized the Charleston Bearcats, and in 1926 his band was one of three that opened the legendary Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. The band’s name was changed to the Savoy Bearcat}} After leaving the Savoy they became known as Leon Abbey's Band.

The band's drummer was Tiny Bradshaw and its bassist was Ralph Escudero.