Jimmie Noone Day
Jimmie Noone (April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. After beginning his career in New Orleans, he led Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra, a Chicago band that recorded for Vocalion and Decca. Classical composer Maurice Ravel acknowledged basing his Boléro on an improvisation by Noone. At the time of his death Noone was leading a quartet in Los Angeles and was part of an all-star band that was reviving interest in traditional New Orleans jazz in the 1940s. Jimmie Noone was born on April 23, 1895, on a farm in Cut Off, Louisiana, to Lucinda (née Daggs) and James Noone. He grew up in Hammond, Louisiana, where he started playing guitar. In 1910, Noone’s family moved to New Orleans. Noone switched to the clarinet and studied with Lorenzo Tio and the young Sidney Bechet.