Harry Edison

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

Edison was born in Columbus, Ohio, United States. 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.

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. 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.

"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.

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, Nat King Cole, Billy Daniels, Margaret Whiting, Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald. He worked closely with the arranger Nelson Riddle, who gave Edison a microphone that was separate from the rest of the trumpet section. 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. As the Los Angeles Jazz Society (LAJS) first Tribute Honoree, "Sweets" will always have a special place in the hearts of jazz fans.

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

As leader/co-leader

• Buddy and Sweets (Norgran, 1955) with Buddy Rich
• Pres and Sweets (Norgran, 1955) with Lester Young
• Sweets (Clef, 1956)
• Gee, Baby Ain't I Good to You (Verve, 1957) with Ben Webster
• Jazz Giants '58 (Verve, 1958) with Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan
• Going for Myself (Verve, 1958) with Lester Young
• The Swinger (Verve, 1958)
• Mr. Swing (Verve, 1958 [1960])
• Harry Edison Swings Buck Clayton (Verve, 1958) with Buck Clayton
• Sweetenings (Roulette, 1958)
• Patented by Edison (Roulette, 1960)
• Together (Roulette, 1961) with Joe Williams
• Jawbreakers (Riverside, 1962) with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
• Wanted to Do One Together (Columbia, 1962) with Ben Webster
• "Sweets" for the Sweet (Sue, 1964)
• Sweets for the Sweet Taste of Love (Vee-Jay, 1964)
• When Lights are Low (Liberty, 1966)
• The Trumpet Kings Meet Joe Turner (Pablo, 1974) with Big Joe Turner, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge and Clark Terry
• Oscar Peterson and Harry Edison (Pablo, 1974) with Oscar Peterson
• Oscar Peterson and the Trumpet Kings – Jousts (Pablo, 1974) with Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge and Clark Terry
• Edison's Lights (Pablo, 1976)
• Simply Sweets (Pablo, 1978) with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
• Just Friends (Pablo, 1978 [1980]) with John Haley Sims
• Meeting in Stockholm (Beaver Records, 1985) with Claes Crona
• Oscar Peterson + Harry Edison + Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (Pablo, 1986) with Oscar Peterson and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
• For My Pals (Pablo, 1988)

As sideman