Hayes, Edgar (Junius)

Hayes, Edgar (Junius), jazz pianist, arranger, leader; b. Lexington, Ky., May 23, 1904; d. Riverside, Calif., June 28, 1979. Hayes earned a bachelor of music degree at Wilberforce Univ. in 1922. After graduating, he toured the South with Fess Williams. He spent most of 1924-25 working out of Cleveland, leading his own groups, and working as a sideman. By 1926, he had moved on to play with Madison’s Commodore Orch. in Buffalo. In the spring of 1927, Hayes led the group The Eight Black Pirates for the touring show Rarin to Go. That August, he settled in N.Y., where he led his own Symphonic Harmonists until 1930. In 1931, he joined The Mills Blue Rhythm Band, remaining with the group through various leaders (including “Baron Lee” [Jimmy Ferguson] and Lucky Millinder) until 1936. In 1937, Hayes formed his own big band (with several ex-members of Millinder’s Band), which he continued to lead until 1941, including a tour of Belgium and Scandinavia in March and April 1938. His fine version of “Stardust” in 1938 had on the B-side Joe Garland’s “In the Mood,” which was covered with enormous success by Glenn Miller the next year. Hayes moved to Calif, in the summer of 1942 and began long residency at Somerset House, Riverside, until early 1946. He then led his own quartet, The Stardusters, until the early 1950s. From the mid-1950s, he played as a solo act in various Calif. clubs, remaining active until a few years before his death.

—John Chilton Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter