Omer Simeon
Omer Simeon | |
|---|---|
 Joe Thomas, Omer Simeon and Eddie Wilcox, Loyal Charles Lodge No. 167, New York, c. October 1947 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Omer Victor Simeon |
| Born | July 21, 1902 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | September 17, 1959 (aged 57) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Clarinet |
| Years active | 1920–1950s |
Omer Victor Simeon (July 21, 1902 – September 17, 1959)[1] was an American jazz clarinetist. He also played soprano, alto, and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet.
Biography
The son of a cigar maker, Omer Simeon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.[1] His family moved to Chicago, Illinois.[1] He learned clarinet from the New Orleans musician Lorenzo Tio, Jr. and started playing professionally in 1920.[1]
He worked in Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with various bands, including Jimmy Bell's Band and Charlie Elgar's Creole Orchestra.[2]
Starting in 1926, he began playing with Jelly Roll Morton, and made a well regarded series of recordings with Morton's Red Hot Peppers[2] and smaller groups. Simeon also taught music. In 1927, he joined King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators with whom he moved to New York City.[1] After time back in Chicago with Elgar, he joined the Luis Russell in Manhattan, then again returned to Chicago in 1928 to play with the Erskine Tate Orchestra.[1] In 1931, he began a 10-year stint with Earl Hines.[3]
In the 1940s, he worked in the bands of Coleman Hawkins and Jimmie Lunceford.[2] After some recordings with Kid Ory's band, he spent most of the 1950s with the Wilbur de Paris band,[1] including a tour of Africa in 1957. In 1954, he played saxophone in a duet with Louis Armstrong on trumpet in Armstrong's popular Dixieland recording of "Skokiaan."
Omer Simeon died of throat cancer in New York City at the age of 57.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 364. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
- ^ a b c Yanow, Scott. "Omer Simeon". AllMusic. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Omer Simeon (1902-1959)". Red Hot Jazz Archive. August 30, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
- ^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 21, 1959. p. 6. Retrieved August 1, 2021 – via Google Books.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1902 births
- 1959 deaths
- 20th-century American male musicians
- 20th-century American saxophonists
- African-American saxophonists
- American jazz clarinetists
- American jazz saxophonists
- American male saxophonists
- Bass clarinetists
- Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
- Deaths from esophageal cancer
- Dixieland clarinetists
- Dixieland saxophonists
- Jazz musicians from New Orleans
- Louisiana Creole people
- American male jazz musicians
- Red Hot Peppers members
- Swing clarinetists
- Swing saxophonists
- 20th-century African-American musicians