LaVere relocated to Chicago in late 1932, where he shared an apartment with the Teagarden’s and their spouses in the North end of the city. He began playing regularly with local artists, including Joe and Marty Marsala, Floyd Towne, Jim Barnes, Ray Biondi, Shorty Cherock, Larry Russel, Clark Galehouse, Carl Bean, Wingy Manone, and was awarded standing work with Wingy Manone and Jack Teagarden at The Brewery, near the World's Fair in the Spring and Summer of 1933. He would perform his first recorded sessions in support of Manone and Teagarden the same year, in addition to leading his own bands.