George Lewis (clarinetist)
American musician (1900–1968)
George Lewis (born Joseph Louis Francois Zenon; July 13, 1900 – December 31, 1968) was an American jazz clarinetist who achieved his highest profile in the later decades of his life.
Early life
Lewis was born in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1900 and lived at 3327 De Armas Street in the Algiers section of New Orleans. Through his mother, Alice Zeno, his maternal great-great-grandmother was a Senegalese slave who was brought to Louisiana around 1803. Zeno's family retained some knowledge of Senegalese language and customs until Alice's generation.
Personal life
George married Emma Zeno in 1918 in New Orleans, they had four children, Mildred Zeno-Major; Joseph Zeno; William (Bill) Zeno; and George (Baby George).
Musical career
During the 1920s, he founded the New Orleans Stompers. In the decade he also worked with Chris Kelly, Buddy Petit, Kid Rena, and was a member of the Eureka Brass Band and the Olympia Orchestra. In the 1930s, he played with Bunk Johnson, De De Pierce, and Billie Pierce. He recorded with Johnson in the early 1940s and with Kid Shots Madison. Alan Lomax brought Lewis on a Rudi Blesh radio show in 1942 in which Lewis played "Woodchopper's Ball" by Woody Herman.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “George Lewis (clarinetist)” as american musician (1900–1968). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q489579. VIAF identifies the subject as 100244610. The Library of Congress control number is n82077166. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1900, 1968, 1803 and 1918.
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This entry incorporates text from “George Lewis (clarinetist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.