Thelma Terry - in Chicago

In Chicago

In the early 1920s, Chicago had undergone a fateful transition. On one hand, the nation's second largest city at that time was noted for gangster violence as "Big Jim" Colosimo, Al Capone, and Bugs Moran fought for control of the city's illegal liquor trade. On the other hand, Chicago had also become a mecca for many of the finest artists of jazz, who migrated north from New Orleans. Through her contacts at Austin Union, Combes had found her way into Chicago night life. After playing in and around Chicago for some years, sometimes with her "all-girl" band ("Thelma Combes and her Volcanic Orchestra"), sometimes in a stringed quartet, she found her way into the house band of Colosimo's Restaurant (owned by Capone) in 1925. She played bass and sang at Colosimo's, sometimes on live radio.

In 1926 Combes was hired to play at the Vanity Fair Cafe, where she met jazz guitarist Eddie Condon. Condon later said that he and Combes frequently went out on the town together during the winter months of 1926 and 1927. He added that he was impressed by her beauty, her musicianship, and the fact that no matter where they went, even in the roughest parts of town, Combes could find her own way home. Thelma's sister Helen disputed Condon's allegation that he and Combes dated, but the family insists that his words capture Thelma's strength of character.