George Dixon was born on April 8, 1909 in New Orleans, Louisiana but grew up throughout the South traveling with his father as he ministered. He began playing trumpet as a child, then while living in Natchez, Mississippi at age thirteen he began playing the violin. He would go on to study the instrument at Arkansas State College, where he picked up the alto saxophone.

Dixon’s move to Chicago in 1926 would have him playing with Sammy Stewart from 1928, including a tour of New York City in 1930. His longest and most important…