   milton mesirow, better known as mezz mezzrow (november 9, 1899 &ndash; august 5, 1972) was an american jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from chicago, illinois.[ allmusic ((( mezz mezzrow > biography )))] mezzrow is well known for organizing and financing historic recording sessions with tommy ladnier and sidney bechet. mezzrow also recorded a number of times with bechet and briefly acted as manager for louis armstrong. he is equally well remembered, however, for being a colorful character, as clearly portrayed in his autobiography really the blues, as for his music. the book, which takes its title from a bechet musical piece, was co-written by bernard wolfe and first published in 1946. ==music career== mezzrow organized and took part in recording sessions involving black musicians in the 1930s and 1940s including benny carter, teddy wilson, frankie newton, tommy ladnier and sidney bechet. mezzrow's 1938 sessions for the french jazz critic hugues panassie involved bechet and ladnier and helped spark the 'new orleans revival'. in the mid-1940s mezzrow started his own record label, king jazz records, featuring himself in groups that usually included sidney bechet and, often, trumpeter oran 'hot lips' page. mezzrow also can be found and heard playing on six recordings by fats waller. he appeared at the 1948 nice jazz festival. following that, he made his home in france and organized many bands that included french musicians like claude luter, as well as visiting americans such as buck clayton, peanuts holland, jimmy archey, kansas fields and lionel hampton. in 1953, in paris with ex-basie trumpeter buck clayton, he made a recording of the louis armstrong's "west end blues." ==personal life== mezzrow became better-known for his drug-dealing than his music. in his time, he was so well known in the jazz community for selling marijuana that "mezz" became slang for marijuana, a reference used in the stuff smith song, "if you're a viper". he was also known as the "muggles king," the word "muggles" being slang for marijuana at that
1899_births 1972_deaths American_jazz_clarinetists American_jazz_saxophonists Blue_Note_Records_artists Dixieland_clarinetists Dixieland_saxophonists Jewish_American_musicians