  harry "sweets" edison (october 10, 1915 â july 27, 1999) was an american jazz trumpeter and member of the count basie orchestra. ==biography== 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, thatâs 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, ed
1915_births 1999_deaths American_jazz_trumpeters Columbia_Records_artists Count_Basie_Orchestra_members Mainstream_jazz_trumpeters People_from_Columbus,_Ohio Sue_Records_artists Swing_trumpeters Vee-Jay_Records_artists Verve_Records_artists