Don Ewell Quartet

A major if underrated stride pianist, Don Ewell was inspired by Jelly Roll Morton and Earl Hines.  He could stride like Fats Waller, too. He started leading his own trios in Baltimore in the mid-’30s.  He played during the New Orleans jazz revival (starting in the mid-’40s) with Bunk Johnson, Muggsy Spanier, Sidney Bechet, and Kid Ory (1953).  Ewell was with Jack Teagarden during 1957-1964. Ewell sometimes played duets with the weakening Willie «the Lion» Smith in the late ’60s before moving to New Orleans, where he worked regulary during his last years.

photo: from booklet ‘Yellow Dog Blues’