This Hungarian-born jazz accordionist sadly is largely forgotten today, since he had to quit the musical scene for so many years when illness, tuberculosis, in mid 1931 prevented continuance of his career. Piano was his original instrument and he received his musical education at the Conservatory of Music in Budapest. He finished at 16 and almost immediately started playing at a local orchestra. At 18 he already directed an orchestra of 26 men. He came to New York in 1920, and until the latter 1920's he played in a nickelodeon, vaudeville acts, Broadway productions, musical comedies, hotels, and theater pit orchestras. By 1927 he had formed his own orchestra at the Beaux-Arts Café. Shortly before, Cornell had started playing the accordion, and before long before he became the favorite jazz accordionist in New York. His recording work as an accordionist began around 1929. This excellent recording however he made as a bandleader in 1930, with Artie Dunn on vocal.