George Dixon. Discogs.com
Trumpeter George Dixon, born in New Orleans, April 8, 1909, moved several times with his family, as his dad was an AME preacher. He first learned violin at 13 while living in Natchez, and began playing alto sax while studying at Arkansas State University. After college, he moved to Chicago in 1926 and joined Sammy Stewart’s band in 1928. About 1930 he began a decades long job playing saxophones and trumpet for Earl Hines.
His brother, David Dixon, served in the Army. Their parents, the Rev. and Mrs. M.R. Dixon, were living at 604 Sixth Ave., Peoria, where his dad was pastor at Ward Chapel AME when they enlisted.
George Dixon enlisted in the Navy in Chicago, where he trained at Camp Robert Smalls, and was originally slated to be part of the first Treasure Island band. He married Florence Hill in late 1942, about the time he was sent with a band to Millington, where he lived in barracks 57. He led the band there and was mustered out in August 1945.
After the war, he returned to Chicago, where he started his own band and worked for the rest of his career. He led the house band at the Circle Inn in the early 1950s and worked a day job for many years as an elevator operator at a downtown Chicago police station.
He died in Chicago August 1, 1994.
In March 1945, the “Millington Navy band” played two numbers at a Memphis event honoring local Black sailors.
Thus far, Dixon is the only bandsman identified with this station.
Records and documentation of a Memphis USO club for Blacks organized by Mrs. Marion Simpkins may provide further details.
Earl Hines orchestra, with George Dixon trumpet, at Savoy / Hill City Auditorium, Pittsburgh, ca 1939-40. Photo by Charles “Teeny” Harris. Carnegie Museum of Art.
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Sources
Chadbourne, Eugene. “George Dixon.” n.d. Allmusic.com. 13 Feb. 2025. 13 Feb. 2025.
Kemp, Larry .”Early Jazz Trumpet Legends.” Pittsburgh, PA: RoseDog Books, 2018.
“Memphis Girls at Navy Dance.” Chicago Defender. 14 Apr. 1943: 6.
“Memphis League Entertains Gobs.” Chicago Defender. 17 Mar. 1945: 18
Monroe, Al. “Swinging the News.” Chicago Defender. 30 Oct. 1942: 20; 12 June 1943: 13; 29 Dec. 1945: 14;
Ole Nosey. “Everybody Goes when the Wagon Comes.” Chicago Defender. 26 Dec. 1942: 12.
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