(July 13th 1900 - December 31st 1968)

Born Joseph Louis Francois Zenon in New Orleans' French Quarter, George Lewis as he became known began playing clarinet at age seventeen. He worked regularly with the bands of Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and Chris Kelly but remained in the Crescent City. During the 1930s he took a job as a stevedore to supplement his musical income. 'Rediscovered' by music historian Bill Russell of American Music Records in 1942, Lewis would later take charge of Bunk Johnson's band following his retirement in the late 1940s. George Lewis went on to become one of the most prominent traditional New Orleans jazzmen of the 1950s and '60s.