Omer Simeon
Simeon circa 1947
Background information
Birth name	Omer Victor Simeon
Born	(1902-07-21)July 21, 1902 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	September 17, 1959(1959-09-17) (aged 57) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Clarinet
Years active	1920–1950s

Omer Victor Simeon (July 21, 1902 – September 17, 1959)^[1] was an American jazz clarinetist. He also played soprano, alto, and baritone saxophone and bass clarinet.

The son of a cigar maker, Omer Simeon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[1] His family moved to Chicago, Illinois.^[1] He learned clarinet from the New Orleans musician Lorenzo Tio, Jr. and started playing professionally in 1920.^[1]

He worked in Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with various bands, including Jimmy Bell's Band and Charlie Elgar's Creole Orchestra.^[2]

Starting in 1926, he began playing with Jelly Roll Morton, and made a well regarded series of recordings with Morton's Red Hot Peppers^[2] and smaller groups. Simeon also taught music. In 1927, he joined King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators with whom he moved to New York City.^[1] After time back in Chicago with Elgar, he joined the Luis Russell in Manhattan, then again returned to Chicago in 1928 to play with the Erskine Tate Orchestra.^[1] In 1931, he began a 10-year stint with Earl Hines.^[3]

In the 1940s, he worked in the bands of Coleman Hawkins and Jimmie Lunceford.^[2] After some recordings with Kid Ory's band, he spent most of the 1950s with the Wilbur de Paris band,^[1] including a tour of Africa in 1957. In 1954, he played saxophone in a duet with Louis Armstrong on trumpet in Armstrong's popular Dixieland recording of "Skokiaan."

Omer Simeon died of throat cancer in New York City at the age of 57.^[4]