Milton Mesirow (November 9, 1899 – August 5, 1972),[2] better known as Mezz Mezzrow, was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois.

Mezzrow is equally known as a colorful character, as portrayed in his autobiography, Really the Blues (which takes its title from a Bechet composition), co-written with Bernard Wolfe and published in 1946.

"[3] Along with other white musicians of his era, such as Eddie Condon and Frank Teschemacher, Mezzrow visited the Sunset Café in Chicago to learn from, and listen to, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five.

[4] He admired Armstrong so much that after the release of "Heebie Jeebies", he, along with Teschemacher, drove 53 miles to Indiana in order to play the song for Bix Beiderbecke.

The group was composed primarily of black musicians such as Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Pops Foster, and Willie "The Lion" Smith, but also included the Jewish trumpet player Max Kaminsky.

Mezzrow's 1938 sessions for the French jazz critic Hugues Panassié involved Bechet and Ladnier, and helped spark the "New Orleans revival".

[2] With ex-Count Basie trumpeter Buck Clayton, he made a recording of Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" in Paris in 1953.

[6] Despite this lengthy and successful career, the record producer Al Rose was critical of Mezzrow's musicianship, saying that in his opinion "he wasn't a very good clarinetist," while praising him for his willingness to help other musicians in need and citing "his generosity and his total devotion to the music we call jazz.

In an interview with The New York Times in 2015, "Mezz Jr.", as he was known, told a reporter: "My father put me in a shul, and my mother's side tried to make me a Baptist.

[citation needed] He was preceded in death by his wife, Johnnie Mae Mezzrow, and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.