George “Doc” Ryan, passed away on May 8, 2025, in Arkansas, just shy of his 96th birthday. Known for lyrical cornet playing and a charismatic stage presence, Ryan led the popular Hot Cotton Jazz Band and performed with luminaries like Wild Bill Davison.
Born in Bay Springs, Mississippi, in 1929, he became a Harvard-educated OB/GYN and advocate for women’s reproductive health, appearing on many TV programs and becoming Ann Landers’ go to expert for questions about women’s health.
He balanced that distinguished medical career with an equally remarkable musical one. In Boston, he founded the East Bay City Jazz Band, which found many fans and performed with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. After moving to Memphis in 1977, Ryan formed the Hot Cotton Jazz Band, which played major festivals worldwide, including the San Diego Jazz Festival, where Ryan was named Gentleman of Jazz in 1995. He also appeared with Wild Bill Davison’s All-Stars, and can be heard on Davison’s Live From The Memphis Jazz Fest album released by Jazzology.
The Hot Cotton Jazz Band released at least eight of their own albums. Dan Wilkinson, banjoist for the Hot Cotton Jazz Band, has posted a number of quality videos from festival performances in the 1980s and 90s on his YouTube page. In 2018, Ryan was inducted into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame, where he had lived since the early 1990s, a fitting tribute to the impact he had wherever he went.
Joe Bebco is the Associate Editor of The Syncopated Times and Webmaster of SyncopatedTimes.com
