Edwards, Eddie (actually Edwin Branford; Daddy)

Edwards, Eddie (actually Edwin Branford; Daddy), early jazz trombonist, violinist; b. New Orleans, May 22, 1891; d. N.Y., April 9, 1963. He began playing violin at 10, then took up trombone at 15, but did his first gigs on violin in a local theatre orchestra in 1910. He played trombone with Papa Laine’s Reliance bands in 1912, and worked regularly with Ernest Giardina’s Orch. from 1914. He also played semiprofessional baseball in and around New Orleans. On March 1, 1916, he traveled to Chicago with a band led by drummer Johnny Stein (real name: Hountha) called Stein’s Dixie Jazz Band. He left Stein in late May 1916 and, with Nick LaRocca, became founder- member of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He played with the band in N.Y. until serving briefly in the U.S. Army (July 1918 to March 1919). On his return, he formed his own band and played in a band led by Jimmy “Schnozzle” Durante, then rejoined O.D.J.B, and remained until the group broke up early in 1925. During the later 1920s, he led his own band at various N.Y.-area clubs. Around the end of the decade, Edwards left full-time music, had his own newspaper stand, and also worked for several years as a part-time sports coach. He returned to regular playing to join the reformed O.D.J.B. in autumn 1936, working with LaRocca until February 1938, then continued gigging with Larry Shields, Tony Spargo, etc., until 1940. He did part-time playing in N.Y. during the early 1940s, then in 1943–4 toured with the Katherine Dunham Revue. He continued occasional playing in and around N.Y. until shortly before his death. He co-composed “Tiger Rag “Fidgety Feet/’ and other Chicago-jazz standards.

Discography

Eddie Edwards and His Original Dixieland Jazz Band (1949).

—John Chilton/Lewis Porter