George "Pee Wee" Erwin was an American jazz trumpeter born on May 30, 1913 in Falls City, Nebraska, and began playing trumpet at age four. He joined the groups of Joe Haymes and Isham Jones, then moved to New York City where he worked as a studio musician and performed with Benny Goodman, Ray Noble, and with Bunny Berigan and Tommy Dorsey’s orchestras. Erwin led his own big band in 1941‑1942 and 1946, then settled in New Milford, New Jersey, later playing Dixieland jazz in New Orleans and founding a trumpet school that produced alumni such as Warren Vaché. His recordings include Accent on Dixieland (1955) and Dixieland at Grandview Inn (1956). He performed at the Breda Jazz Festival in May 1981 and died in Teaneck, New Jersey, on June 20, 1981.
