Teddy Edwards

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Teddy Edwards

Teddy Edwards (Theodore Marcus Edwards, born April 26, 1924 in Jackson , Mississippi , † April 20, 2003 in Los Angeles ) was a tenor saxophonist and band leader of the blues and modern jazz .

At the age of 16, Edwards played as an alto saxophonist and clarinetist in Detroit , where he met Wardell Gray , Hank Jones and Sonny Stitt . He later led his own bands in Alexandria, Louisiana and in Tampa . In the Midwest, Teddy Edwards was a member of various blues bands , moved from Florida to Los Angeles in 1945 , where he joined the trumpeter Howard McGhee's sextet . The latter asked him to give up the alto in favor of the tenor saxophone, as Teddy was planned as the successor to Coleman Hawkins , who had gone to the east coast .

At McGhee he got in contact with greats like Charlie Parker , Sonny Criss , Hampton Hawes and Dodo Marmarosa . Charlie Parker soon saw him as one of the first bebop tenor saxophonists (Teddy himself said he was the first at all). When McGhee went on tour with Norman Granz in 1947 , he got out and was allowed to participate with Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon in December 1947 in a top session that was documented on the records The Duel and Homin 'In .

After jobs with Benny Carter and Gerald Wilson, he was resident musician in 1949 for one year each in the "Lighthouse" ( Hermosa Beach ) and in San Francisco's club Bop City . In 1954 he joined the quintet of Clifford Brown and Max Roach . After a second engagement with Benny Carter, Teddy led his own quartet from 1955 to 1960 , members included Leroy Vinnegar and Billy Higgins , but he also remained connected to other bands (especially that of his bassist Vinnegar).

Edwards gave up some tour offers in favor of his family in California - and thus an international career. However, he recorded six albums from 1959 to 1962 (Pacific Jazz and Contemporary ) as long as the bop interest continued on the West Coast . In 1961 he worked on Benny Carter's album Further Definitions . He then worked for radio and television advertising , freelance with Shelly Manne and Nancy Wilson and for records by Ray Charles , Julie London , Mel Tormé and Sarah Vaughan . In 1964/65 he performed with the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the New York World's Fair and in Disneyland . In addition to two albums under his own name for Prestige Records , there was also an arrangement for the singer Lorez Alexandria .

From around 1975 he worked with Milt Jackson and Ray Brown , his own band and numerous film soundtracks such as Horses Are Only Given the Gunshot . In 1980 he responded to the request of the singer Tom Waits to record the soundtrack for Coppola's film One From The Heart (1982), and then went on an international tour with him. a. to Paris and to recordings for European labels. The big recognition came at the beginning of the 1990s with Edward's first Verve album "Mississippi Lad", on which Tom Waits sang two tracks. The fans praised his solo saxophone for the contrast between dynamism and lyricism . The success inspired him to even write compositions and arrangements for brass and strings for his next album "Blue Saxophone" . His last Verve album came out in 1995, "La Villa - Live In Paris", followed by three solo albums ( Midnight Creeper, Ladies Man and Smooth Sailing ).

In the Los Angeles Times obituary, Tom Waits names Edwards one of the most important architects of bebop , whom the music scene will miss very much. He died of prostate cancer on April 20, 2003 in Los Angeles.

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personal data
SURNAME Edwards, Teddy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Edwards, Theodore Marcus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American saxophonist
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Jackson , Mississippi
DATE OF DEATH April 20, 2003
Place of death los Angeles