(October 14th 1899 - February 7th 1948)

Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1899 William McKenzie was a singer who also became one of the only prominent comb players in jazz history. Nicknamed 'Red' for his bright-colored hair, together with banjoist Jack Bland he co-founded the "Mound City Blue Blowers" during the early '20s, before becaming a popular crooner and bandleader himself. After retiring to work in a brewery in his home town during the late 1930s Red McKenzie would perform with Eddie Condon periodically from the mid-'40s up until his death from cirrhosis in 1948.