Omer Simeon
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Simeon circa 1947
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| 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(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | 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.
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 RussellinManhattan, 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]
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