Edwin Swayze or Swayzee (June 13, 1906 – January 31, 1935) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
Swayze grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and played with Alphonso Trent, Art Sims, Eugene Cook, Alex Hill, Jelly Roll Morton, and Sammie Lewis early in his career. He moved to New York City late in the 1920s, where he continued to work with Morton, before joining Lew Leslie's Blackbirds revue for a tour of Europe. After the show's run he remained in Europe for a time, playing with Herb Flemming's International Rhythm Aces and the Plantation Band, which he led for a spell in Amsterdam. Early in the 1930s he worked with Chick Webb and Sam Wooding before joining Cab Calloway's orchestra in 1932. He wrote several tunes for Calloway, including "Call of the Jitterbug", "Father's Got His Glasses On", and "Good Sauce from the Gravy Bowl".
Little Rock is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is also the county seat of Pulaski County. It was incorporated on November 7, 1831, on the south bank of the Arkansas River close to the state's geographic center. The city derives its name from a rock formation along the river, named the "Little Rock" by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe in the 1720s. The capital of the Arkansas Territory was moved to Little Rock from Arkansas Post in 1821. The city's population was 198,541 in 2016 according to the United States Census Bureau. The six-county Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is ranked 78th in terms of population in the United States with 738,344 residents according to the 2017 estimate by the United States Census Bureau.
Art Sims is an African-American graphic designer and art director born in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. Sims is well known for his poster designs for classic African-American films, including Do the Right Thing (1998) and The Color Purple (1985). He is the CEO and co-founder of 11:24 Design Advertising in Los Angeles. Throughout his career, Sims has committed to promoting and making visible African-American art and culture.
Alex Hill was an American jazz pianist.
Swayze died while on tour with Calloway in 1935.
