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Omer Simeon

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Omer Simeon
Simeon circa 1947
Simeon circa 1947
Background information
Birth nameOmer Victor Simeon
Born(1902-07-21)July 21, 1902
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedSeptember 17, 1959(1959-09-17) (aged 57)
New York City, U.S.
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentClarinet
Years active1920–1950s

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

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The son of a cigar maker, Omer Simeon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.[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

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c Yanow, Scott. "Omer Simeon". AllMusic. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  3. ^ "Omer Simeon (1902-1959)". Red Hot Jazz Archive. August 30, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  4. ^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 21, 1959. p. 6. Retrieved August 1, 2021 – via Google Books.