George Lewis was born Joseph Louis Francois Zenon on July 13, 1900 in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Learning to play the clarinet he started his professional career by age 17, working with Buddy Petit and Chris Kelly regularly as well as the trombonist Kid Ory and other leaders.

It wasn’t until 1942 that George would gain recognition outside the city, when a group of New Orleans jazz enthusiasts, including jazz historian Bill Russell, went to record the older trumpeter Bunk Johnson who chose him as his clarinetist. Lewis was soon asked…