Sweets Edison

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Sweets Edison and Eddie Lockjaw Davis

Harry "Sweets" Edison (actually Debonair Harry Edison ; born October 10, 1915 in Columbus , Ohio ; † July 27, 1999 there ) was an American jazz trumpeter .

Life

Edison spent his childhood in Kentucky, where an uncle introduced him to music. In 1927 he moved back to Columbus, where he began playing the trumpet in local bands as a teenager. In 1933 he became a member of the Jeter Pillar Orchestra in Cleveland , then the Mills Blue Rhythm Band and in 1937 the band of Lucky Millinder , and then from 1937 to 1950 the Orchestra of Count Basie . There he was nicknamed Sweets by Lester Young because of his playing style and his relaxed manners. He performed as a soloist in the basie band (he can also be seen and heard in the 1944 film Jammin 'the Blues ). He also arranged and composed occasionally for the band.

After the band's temporary breakup in 1950, he played in his own groups, performed with Jazz at the Philharmonic and became a sought-after studio musician on the west coast (especially in Los Angeles ) (often working with arranger Nelson Riddle ) who was based on recordings by Frank Sinatra , Bing Crosby , Nat King Cole , Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday ( Music for Torching ) and many movie soundtracks. He also played with Benny Carter and recorded albums with Ben Webster . Occasionally he played again in the Count Basie Orchestra (1958) as well as with Quincy Jones , Louie Bellson , Buddy Rich and more often with the Shorty Rogers Giants . With Eddie Lockjaw Davis he played the album Jawbreakers in 1960 . In the 1960s he played for television shows (including three years in the Hollywood Palace Show ), accompanied appearances by Joe Williams and Sinatra. He can be heard in the soundtrack of the 1972 film Lady sings the blues, directed by Sidney J. Furie with Diana Ross as Billie Holiday. From 1973 worked as musical director for performances by the comedian Redd Foxx. In the 1970s he played with Benny Carter and Lionel Hampton . Until shortly before his death he also performed frequently in Europe and Japan. He died of prostate cancer in his Columbus home.

Edison was a swing trumpeter with a sometimes hard-gripping, sometimes ingratiating tone, who played melodic-rhythmically accented and limited to the “essentials” and often achieved a very personal sound with the use of mutes (harmon-mute).

Sweets Edison in 1980

Discographic notes

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Edison, sweets
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Edison, Debonair Harry (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trumpeter
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Columbus , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1999
Place of death Columbus