Edward Heywood Jr. (December 4, 1915 – January 3, 1989) was an American

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 majo ...

pianist particularly active in the 1940s and 1950s.

Biography

Heywood was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, United States. His father,

Eddie Heywood Sr. Edward Heywood Sr. ( – April 2, 1942) was an American blues and jazz pianist, popular in the 1910s and 1920s. Biography Eddie Heywood Sr. was a famed pianist of the 81 Theater on Decatur Street in Atlanta, Georgia. He took over that role f ...

, was also a jazz musician from the 1920s and provided him with training from the age of 12 as an accompanist playing in the pit band in a vaudeville theater in Atlanta, occasionally accompanying singers such as

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock an ...

and

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

. Heywood moved, first to New Orleans and then to Kansas City, when vaudeville began to be replaced by sound pictures.Wilson, John S. (January 04, 1989) "Eddie Heywood, 73, Jazz Pianist, Arranger and Composer, Is Dead"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Heywood played with jazz musicians such as

Wayman Carver Wayman Carver (December 25, 1905, Portsmouth, Virginia – May 6, 1967, Atlanta) was an American jazz flutist and reeds player. Carver was a rare jazz flautist active during the swing era, and was among the earliest soloists on his main instrumen ...

in 1932, Clarence Love from 1934 to 1937 and

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

, who heard him in Kansas City playing with Clarence Love, from 1939 to 1940 after moving to New York City in 1938.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p316. Oxford University Press. After starting his band, Heywood would occasionally provide accompaniment for

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

in 1941. In 1943, Heywood took several solos on a

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

quartet date (including " The Man I Love") and put together a sextet, including

Doc Cheatham Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, better known as Doc Cheatham (June 13, 1905 – June 2, 1997), was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He is also the Grandfather of musician Theo Croker. Early life Doc Cheatham was born in Nashvi ...

(tpt),

Vic Dickenson Victor Dickenson (August 6, 1906 – November 16, 1984) was an American jazz trombonist. His career began in the 1920s and continued through musical partnerships with Count Basie (1940–41), Sidney Bechet (1941), and Earl Hines. Life and car ...

(tb),

Lem Davis Lemuel A. Davis (22 June 1914 – 16 January 1970), was an American jazz alto saxophonist associated with swing music. Born in Tampa, Florida, United States, his career began in the 1940s with pianist Nat Jaffe. Davis played with the Coleman ...

(as), Al Lucas (b), and Jack Parker (d). After their version of "

Begin the Beguine "Begin the Beguine" is a popular song written by Cole Porter. Porter composed the song between Kalabahi, Indonesia, and Fiji during a 1935 Pacific cruise aboard Cunard's ocean liner ''Franconia''. In October 1935, it was introduced by June K ...

" became a hit in 1944, the group had three successful years. "Begin the Beguine" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. In 1947, Heywood was stricken with a partial paralysis of his hands and was unable to perform. However, he made a comeback in 1951. In the 1950s, Heywood composed and recorded "Land of Dreams" and "

Soft Summer Breeze "Soft Summer Breeze" is a song written and performed by Eddie Heywood. It reached No. 11 on the U.S. pop chart in 1956. The song was featured on his 1955 album, ''Eddie Heywood''. Other charting versions * The Diamonds released a version of t ...

" (1956) (which peaked at number 11 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart). His 1956 recording of his composition "

Canadian Sunset "Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 7 on the R&B chart in 19 ...

" (which peaked at number 2) which he recorded with

Hugo Winterhalter Hugo Winterhalter (August 15, 1909 – September 17, 1973) was an American easy listening arranger and composer, best known for his arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor. Biography Hugo Ferdinand Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsy ...

and his orchestra for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

. After a second partial paralysis from 1966 to 1969, Heywood made another comeback and continued his career into the 1980s. Heywood died at home in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

, aged 73.

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

had been complicated by Alzheimer's disease, and Heywood had been in poor health for five years. Eddie Heywood has a "Star" at 1709 Vine Street on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

References

External links

Eddie Heywood
at Allmusic.com
Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra discography
at Discogs.com
Eddie Heywood recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Heywood, Eddie Jr. 1915 births 1989 deaths American jazz pianists American male pianists Liberty Records artists Musicians from Atlanta Okeh Records artists RCA Victor artists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians