Artist Name
Harry “Sweets” Edison
web link web link
heart icon off (0 users)
Logo
transparent

Members
members icon 1 Male

Origin
flag Columbus, Ohio, USA

Genre
genre icon Jazz

Style
---

Mood
---

Born

born icon 1915

Active
calendar icon ---dead icon 1999

Cutout
transparent

Alternate Name
Harry Sweets Edison

heart icon Most Loved Tracks
2 users heart off Harry “Sweets” Edison - Just Friends
2 users heart off Harry “Sweets” Edison - Just Friends
1 users heart off Harry “Sweets” Edison - Willow Weep for Me
1 users heart off Harry “Sweets” Edison - Willow Weep for Me
1 users heart off Harry “Sweets” Edison - Willow Weep for Me


youtube icon Music Video Links
No Music Videos Found...



Artist Biography
Available in: gb icon flag icon
Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and member of the Count Basie Orchestra.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Edison spent his early childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was 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.
In 1933, he became a member of the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in Cleveland. Afterwards he played with the Mills Blue Rhythm Band and Lucky Millinder. In 1937 he moved to New York and joined the Count Basie Orchestra. 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. In a 2003 interview for the National Museum of American History, drummer Elvin Jones explained the origin of Edison's nickname: "Sweets had so many lady friends, he was such a handsome man. He had all these girls all over him all the time, that's why they called him Sweets."
"Sweets" Edison came to prominence as a soloist with the Basie Band and as an occasional composer/arranger for the band. He also appeared in the 1944 film Jammin' the Blues.
Having joined the Basie Band in 1937, 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. 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, and Ella Fitzgerald. In 1956 he recorded the first of three albums with tenor great 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. As the Los Angeles Jazz Institute's (LAJI) first Tribute Honoree, "Sweets" will always have a special place in the hearts of jazz fans.
Edison died at his home in Columbus, Ohio at the age of 83.
wiki icon

Wide Thumb
transparent

Clearart
transparent

Fanart

fanart thumb

Banner
transparent icon

User Comments

transparent iconNo comments yet..


Status
unlocked icon Unlocked
Last Edit by zag
24th Dec 2021

Socials
social icon transparent icon

Streaming
website icon unlocked icon

External Links
fanart.tv icon musicbrainz icon last.fm icon website icon unlocked iconamazon icon