| Omer Simeon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Simeon circa 1947 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Omer Victor Simeon |
| Born | (1902-07-21)July 21, 1902 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | September 17, 1959(1959-09-17) (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) 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. His family moved to Chicago, Illinois. He learned clarinet from the New Orleans musician Lorenzo Tio, Jr. and started playing professionally in 1920.
He worked in Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with various bands, including Jimmy Bell's Band and Charlie Elgar's Creole Orchestra.
Starting in 1926, he began playing with Jelly Roll Morton, and made a well regarded series of recordings with Morton's Red Hot Peppers and smaller groups. Simeon also taught music. In 1927, he joined King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators with whom he moved to New York City. 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. In 1931, he began a 10-year stint with Earl Hines.
In the 1940s, he worked in the bands of Coleman Hawkins and Jimmie Lunceford. After some recordings with Kid Ory's band, he spent most of the 1950s with the Wilbur de Paris band, 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.
References
- ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 364. ISBN 0-85112-580-8.
- ^ 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.
- 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 esophageal cancer in New York (state)
- 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
- 20th-century Jazz musicians from New Orleans