Erwin Helfer (born January 21, 1936) is an American boogie-woogie, blues and jazz pianist.
Born in 1936 and raised in his home-town Chicago[2], Erwin attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois.
Helfer was mentored by William Russell, who introduced him to Glover Compton, Baby Dodds, Mahalia Jackson, Cripple Clarence Lofton, and Estelle Yancey, as a young teenager growing up in Chicago in the early 1950s.
William Russell moved to New Orleans and worked on a Ford Foundation grant, which led to the creation of the Jazz Archives at Tulane University.
Helfer partnered with Pete Crawford and started Red Beans Records during 1982.