Edmond Hall (May 15, 1901 – February 11, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Over his long career Hall worked extensively with many top performers as both a sideman and bandleader and is perhaps best known for the 1941 chamber jazz song "Profoundly Blue," which is regarded as a pre-World War II jazz classic. 　　Born in Reserve, Louisiana, about 40 miles west of New Orleans on the Mississippi River, Hall and his siblings were born into a musical family. His father, Edward Blainey Hall, and mother, Caroline Duhe, had eight children, Priscilla (1893), Moretta (1895), Viola (1897), Robert (1899), Edmond (1901), Clarence (1903), Edward (1905) and Herbert (1907). 　　His father, Edward, played the clarinet in the Onward Brass Band, joined by Edmond's maternal uncles, Jules Duhe on trombone, Lawrence Duhe on clarinet, and Edmond Duhe on guitar. The Hall brothers, Robert, Edmond, and Herbert, all became clarinetists, but Edmond was first taught guitar by his uncle Edmond. When Hall picked up the clarinet, "he could play it within a week. He started Monday and played it Saturday," his brother Herb recalled in an interview with Manfred Selchow, who wrote a biography of Hall titled Profoundly Blue (1988). 　　Hall worked as a farmhand, but by 1919 he had become tired of the hard work, and despite his parents' worries of finding a decent job as a musician, he left for New Orleans. The first New Orleans band he played with was that of Bud Rousell (Bud Russell). He also played with Jack Carey (trombone) and blues cornetist Chris Kelley. 　　In 1920, he went to a dance at Economy Hall in New Orleans where Buddy Petit was playing. Petit needed a replacement on clarinet, and he hired Hall. After two years, he moved to Pensacola, Florida, and joined Lee Collins's band, followed by Mack Thomas, and the Pensacola Jazzers. He met trumpeter Cootie Williams and with Williams he joined the Alonzo Ross DeLuxe Syncopators. 　　Hall moved to New York City in 1928 and was a member of the Claude Hopkins orchestra until 1935. Hall had been featured on alto and baritone saxophone since 1922. When he joined Billy Hicks's band, the Sizzling Six, he had a position as a full-time clarinetist. On June 15, 1937, he had his first recording session with Billie Holiday, accompanied by Lester Young on tenor saxophone. 　　In 1940 Henry "Red" Allen arrived at the Café Society, and Hall became the band's clarinetist. Hall spent nine years at the Cafe Society, playing and recording in between jobs with many of his contemporaries, such as Sid Catlett, Charlie Christian, Ida Cox, Wild Bill Davison, Sidney De Paris, Vic Dickenson, Roy Eldridge, Bud Freeman, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Heywood, J. C. Higginbotham, Meade Lux Lewis, Lucky Millinder, Hot Lips Page, Zutty Singleton, Joe Sullivan, Art Tatum, Jack Teagarden, Big Joe Turner, Helen Ward, Josh White. He recorded for the first time as a leader in February 1941. 　　Late in 1941 Hall left Allen to join Teddy Wilson, who also played at the Café Society. Around this time Hall's style changed. His admiration for Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw caused him to work on his technique. Hall tried a Boehm system clarinet, but that attempt was short-lived. He soon went back to his beloved Albert System clarinet, which he would play until his death. 　　During this period, he made many recordings as Edmond Hall's Blue Note Jazzmen, the Edmond Hall Sextet, the Edmond Hall Celeste Quartet, Edmond Hall's Star Quintet, Ed Hall and the Big City Jazzmen, and Edmond Hall's Swingtet. The recording sessions always took place between the work hours of the Café Society and included many of the musicians who performed there. Hall became popular among musicians and critics and was frequently invited to the Town Hall Concerts led by Eddie Condon. 　　In 1944 Teddy Wilson formed a trio, while the other band members remained at Café Society. Hall became a bandleader after being asked by Barney Josephson, owner of Cafe Society. He recorded for Blue Note and Commodore and performed at Town Hall. In an Esquire magazine poll, he was voted the second-best clarinet player, behind the clarinetist he admired most, Benny Goodman.