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Harry Edison

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Harry Edison
Edison in Paris, France, 1980
Edison in Paris, France, 1980
Background information
Born(1915-10-10)October 10, 1915
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJuly 27, 1999(1999-07-27) (aged 83)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
GenresJazz, swing
OccupationMusician
InstrumentTrumpet
LabelsPacific Jazz, Verve, Roulette, Riverside, Vee-Jay, Liberty, Sue, Black & Blue, Pablo, Storyville, Candid

Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra.[1] His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard backing singers, most notably Frank Sinatra.

Biography

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Edison was born in Columbus, Ohio, United States.[1] He spent his early childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, being introduced to music by an uncle. After moving back to Columbus at the age of twelve, the young Edison began playing the trumpet with local bands.[2]

In 1933, he became a member of the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in Cleveland.[1] Afterwards, he played with the Mills Blue Rhythm Band and Lucky Millinder.[1] In 1937, he moved to New York and joined the Count Basie Orchestra.[1] His colleagues included Buck Clayton, Lester Young (who named him "Sweets"), Buddy Tate, Freddie Green, Jo Jones, and other original members of that famous band. Speaking in 1956 with Down Beat's Don Freeman, Edison explained the origin of his nickname:

Well, this happened one day in March back in '37. All of us in the Basie band were sitting around the lobby of the Woodside Hotel in New York. It was snowing outside, and we were waiting for the bus to go on a tour of one-nighters. We were all like brothers in that band. I was kind of the baby of the band and took a lot of the ribbing. So this time Lester Young was joshing me about my 'sweet' style and he said: "We're going to call you 'Sweetie Pie.'" They did, too, for a few months. Then they shortened it to "Sweets." The nickname has kind of lasted a long time.[3]

"Sweets" Edison came to prominence as a soloist with the Basie Band and as an occasional composer/arranger for the band.[1] He also appeared in the 1944 film Jammin' the Blues.

Edison spent thirteen years with Basie until the band was temporarily disbanded in 1950. Edison thereafter pursued a varied career as leader of his own groups, traveling with Jazz at the Philharmonic and freelancing with other orchestras.[1] In the early 1950s, he settled on the West Coast and became a highly sought-after studio musician, making important contributions to recordings by such artists as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billy Daniels, Margaret Whiting, Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald.[4] He worked closely with the arranger Nelson Riddle, who gave Edison a microphone that was separate from the rest of the trumpet section.[5] He made use of a Harmon mute to improvise his solos and obbligatos. In 1956, he recorded the first of three albums with Ben Webster.

According to the Encyclopedia of Jazz in the Seventies, Edison in the 1960s and 1970s continued to work in many orchestras on television shows, including Hollywood Palace and The Leslie Uggams Show, specials with Frank Sinatra; prominently featured on the sound track and in the sound track album of the film Lady Sings the Blues. From 1973, Edison acted as Musical Director for Redd Foxx on theatre dates, at concerts, and in Las Vegas. He appeared frequently in Europe and Japan until shortly before his death. He was the Los Angeles Jazz Society's first Tribute Honoree.[6]

Edison died of prostate cancer at his home in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 83.[7]

Discography

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As leader/co-leader

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As sideman

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With Count Basie

With Louie Bellson

With Ray Bryant

With Benny Carter

With Duke Ellington with Johnny Hodges

With Ella Fitzgerald

With Billie Holiday

With Jo Jones

With Quincy Jones

With Buddy Rich

With Shorty Rogers

With Frank Sinatra

With Frank Sinatra and Count Basie

With Mel Tormé

With Sarah Vaughan

With Lester Young

With others

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Colin Larkin, ed. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 117/8. ISBN 1-85227-937-0.
  2. ^ Reisser, Jean-Michel (June 22, 2009). "An interview with, a biography of, albums and CDs by the legendary jazz trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison". Cosmopolis.ch. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013.
  3. ^ Freeman, Don (January 25, 1956). "After 17 Years, Edison Is Taking Lessons". Down Beat. p. 33. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  4. ^ "Obituary: Harry Edison". The Independent. July 29, 1999. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  5. ^ Ratliff, Ben (July 29, 1999). "Harry (Sweets) Edison, 83, Trumpeter for Basie Band, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "Harry "Sweets" Edison, 1983 and 1992". Los Angeles Jazz Society. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  7. ^ Ratliff, Ben (July 29, 1999). "Harry (Sweets) Edison, 83, Trumpeter for Basie Band, Dies". The New York Times.
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