Edwin Branford "Eddie" Edwards (May 22, 1891 – April 9, 1963) was an early
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
trombonist who was a member of the
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their " Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the ...
.
Life and career
A native of
, Edwards started on violin at age 10 and moved to trombone five years later.
He played both instruments professionally with the bands of
Papa Jack Laine
George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine (September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) was an American musician and a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish–American War to World War I. He was often credited for training many musici ...
and Ernest Giardina. In addition to music Edwards played minor-league baseball and worked as an electrician.
In 1916 he was picked by
Alcide Nunez
Alcide Patrick Nunez (March 17, 1884 – September 2, 1934), also known as Yellow Nunez and Al Nunez, was an American jazz clarinetist. He was one of the first musicians of New Orleans to make audio recordings.
Biography
Alcide Patrick Nunez wa ...
to go to Chicago, Illinois, to play trombone with
Johnny Stein
John Philip Hountha "Johnny" Stein (1891 or 1895 in New Orleans – September 30, 1962 in New Orleans) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.
Stein's surnames are the subject of much confusion; his mother's name was Stein from a previous ...
's Jazz Band. With a few changes of personnel this band became the Original Dixieland Jazz Band which made the first jazz records in 1917. He played on one of the first commercially released jazz recordings, "
Livery Stable Blues
"Livery Stable Blues" is a jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez ''(né'' Raymond Edward Lopez; 1889–1979) and Alcide Nunez in 1917. It was recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on February 26, 1917, and, with the A side " Dixieland ...
", later released as "Barnyard Blues".
He left the band after being drafted into the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. The band replaced him with
Emile Christian. Edwards served in the Army from July 1918 to March 1919. After discharge he led a band of his own and worked in the band of
Jimmie Durante
James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...
before returning to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. After that band broke up, he again led a band in New York City for most of the 1920s. In the early 1930s he retired from music and ran a newspaper stand and worked as a sports coach.
He returned to music in 1936 when
Nick LaRocca
Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca (April 11, 1889 – February 22, 1961), was an American early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time ...
reformed the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, playing with them until 1938. He played in other bands with
Larry Shields
Lawrence James Shields (September 13, 1893 - November 21, 1953) was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist. He was a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the first jazz band to record commercially.
Background
Shields was born int ...
,
Tony Sbarbaro
Antonio Sparbaro, known professionally as Tony Sbarbaro or Tony Spargo (June 27, 1897 – October 30, 1969) was an American jazz drummer associated with New Orleans jazz. He was the drummer of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band for over 50 years ...
, and
J. Russell Robinson
Joseph Russel Robinson (July 8, 1892 – September 30, 1963) was an American ragtime, dixieland, and blues pianist and composer who was a member of the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
Career
Robinson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his teen ...
in New York into the 1940s. He continued playing professionally intermittently until shortly before his death in New York City in 1963.
His composition "
Sensation Rag
"Sensation Rag" or "Sensation" is a 1918 jazz instrumental by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. It is one of the earliest jazz recordings. It is not related to Joseph Lamb's 1908 "Sensation Rag", which is a ragtime piano piece.
Background
The ...
" or "Sensation" was performed at the 1938
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
jazz concert at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
released on the album ''
The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert
''The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert'' by Benny Goodman, Columbia Records catalogue item SL-160, is a two- disc LP of swing and jazz music recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 16, 1938. First issued in 1950, the landmark ...
''.
Jazz musician
Johnny Wiggs
Johnny Wiggs (born John Wigginton Hyman, July 25, 1899 - October 10, 1977) was a jazz musician and band leader.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Wiggs started his music career on the violin. He soon adopted the cornet and moved ...
said that while he'd heard more sophisticated trombone players, he'd "never heard another trombonist who could give a band the rhythmic punch that Edwards could."
Jazz Age Music.
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Grammy Hall of Fame
"Darktown Strutters' Ball
"Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard. There are many variations of the title, including "At the Darktown Strutters' ...
" (1917) by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
in 2006.
References
Sources
Tim Gracyk's Phonographs and Old Records
Contains audio files of their vintage recordings
* Brunn, H.O. ''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1960. Reprinted by Da Capo Press
Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books.
History
Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...
, 1977.
* Gracyk, Tim, Frank Hoffmann, and B. Lee Cooper. ''Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895-1925. (Haworth Popular Culture)''. Routledge, 2000.
* Lange, Horst H. ''Wie der Jazz begann: 1916-1923, von der "Original Dixieland Jazz Band" bis zu King Olivers "Creole Jazz Band"''. Berlin: Colloquium Verlag, 1991.
* Stewart, Jack. "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's Place in the Development of Jazz." ''New Orleans International Music Colloquium'', 2005.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Eddie
1891 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American musicians
20th-century trombonists
American jazz trombonists
Male trombonists
Dixieland jazz musicians
Jazz musicians from New Orleans
Original Dixieland Jass Band members
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians