Donald Tyson Ewell (November 14, 1916 – August 9, 1983) was an American jazz stride pianist. He worked with

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic tempe ...

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

George Lewis George Lewis may refer to: Entertainment and art * George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia * George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist * George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexica ...

, George Brunis,

Muggsy Spanier Francis Joseph "Muggsy" Spanier (November 9, 1901 – February 12, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist based in Chicago. He was a member of the Bucktown Five, pioneers of the "Chicago style" that straddled traditional Dixieland jazz and swin ...

, and

Bunk Johnson Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a dec ...

Biography

Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Ewell played with Bill Reinhardt's

Jazz, Ltd. Jazz, Ltd. was a Dixieland jazz band, nightclub and a record label in Chicago. The band was active from June 1947 to April 1978 and was led and managed by Bill Reinhardt. The nightclub was active from June 1947 to February 1972 and was managed b ...

band in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1947, 1948, and 1949. From 1956 to 1962, Ewell was a member of the

Jack Teagarden Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...

band. After Teagarden died, Ewell toured Europe, then returned to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and performed in clubs and hotels. From 1976 to 1978, he concertized and suffered from alcoholism while living with his friend King Denton, the manager of a jazz club where Ewell was Artist-in-residence. Ewell moved back to his native

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. After his daughter's death from cancer and after suffering two strokes, Ewell died on August 9, 1983, aged 66, in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Discography

As leader

* ''Mama Yancey Singer/Don Ewell Pianist'' (Windin' Ball, 1955) * ''Music to Listen to Don Ewell By'' ( Good Time Jazz, 1957) * ''Man Here Plays Fine Piano!'' (Good Time Jazz, 1961) * ''Free 'n' Easy!'' (Good Time Jazz, 1962) * ''Denver Concert'' (Pumpkin, 1966; reissued by Storyville) – with

Barbara Dane Barbara Dane (born Barbara Jean Spillman; May 12, 1927) is an American folk, blues, and jazz singer, guitarist, record producer, and political activist. She co-founded Paredon Records with Irwin Silber. "Bessie Smith in stereo," wrote jazz cri ...

* ''Grand Piano'' with Willie The Lion Smith ( Swaggie, 1966) * ''A Jazz Portrait of the Artist'' (

Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

, 1969) * ''Don Ewell and Bob Greene...Together'' (

Jazzology Jazzology Records is an American jazz record company and label. It is part of the Jazzology group of labels owned and operated by the George H. Buck Jr. Jazz Foundation. Jazzology Records was founded in 1949 by George H. Buck, Jr. That year he ...

, 1970) * ''Duet!'' with Bob Greene (Fat Cat's Jazz, 1970) * ''Live at the 100 Club'' (

77 Records 77 Records was a British record company and label established in 1957 by Doug Dobell, the proprietor of 'Dobell's Jazz Record Shop' at 77 Charing Cross Road, London. The label specialised in folk, blues, and jazz. Several British jazz musici ...

, 1971) * ''Take It in Stride'' (Chiaroscuro, 1971) * ''Don Ewell'' (Chiaroscuro, 1974) * ''Don Ewell Trio and Quartet'' (Center, 1976) * ''New Orleans Rascals and Don Ewell'' (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

, 1976) * ''In New Orleans'' with Herb Hall (

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 1980) * ''Don Ewell and His All-Stars'' (Jazzology, 1981) * ''Don Ewell Quintet'' (Jazzology, 1982) * ''Chicago '57 '' ( Stomp Off, 1984) * ''Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon'' (Storyville, 1969) * ''Memories of You'' with Claire Austin (

Audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

, 1993) * ''Don Ewell Meets Pamela and Llew Hird with the Sydney Stompers'' (G.H.B., 1995) * ''Stride Piano Duets Live in Toronto 1966'' with Willie The Lion Smith ( Delmark, 2008)

As sideman

With

* ''Trouble in Mind'' (San Francisco) With ''Doc Evans'' * ''Jazz Ltd. Volume 1'' ( Delmark) * ''Doc Evans Dixieland Band'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

) With

* ''Bunk Johnson with the Yerba Buena Jazz Band 1944 and with Doc Evans & His Band'' (

Document A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" o ...

) * ''Bunk Johnson Plays Popular Songs'' ( American Music) With

*'' Mis'ry and the Blues'' (Verve, 1961)

References

Stride pianists Jazz musicians from New Orleans American jazz pianists American male pianists 1916 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Sackville Records artists Chiaroscuro Records artists Good Time Jazz Records artists {{US-jazz-pianist-stub