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George Girard was born on October 7, 1930 in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. In high school, he studied music under Johnny Wiggs and became a professional musician immediately after graduating in 1946. He played and toured with the bands of Johnny Archer and Phil Zito before co-founding the band The Basin Street Six, made up mostly of friends he had grown up with, including clarinetist Pete Fountain. The band got a regular gig at L’Enfant’s Restaurant in New Orleans, as well as regular television broadcasts over WWL. The band started receiving favorable national attention, but Girard was dissatisfied with it and broke up the band in 1954.

He found his own band, George Girard & the New Orleans Five which included trombonist Bob Havens, drummer Paul Edwards, and bassist Bob Coquille. He landed a residency at the Famous Door in the French Quarter, recorded for several labels, and got a weekly broadcast on CBS. His ambitions to make a national name for himself and the musical ability to do so fell short of time as he became ill and in 1956 had to give up playing.

Trumpeter George Girard, a member of the Basin Street Six whose technical ability combined Dixieland and big band style trumpet, passed away from colon cancer in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 18, 1957.

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