Trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison has been delighting audiences with his warm and mellow tone since joining the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1930s at the age of 18. His distinctive sound earned him roles as a featured soloist in Basie’s band and as an accompanist for a range of vocalists from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald to Billie Holiday. On this show, Edison joins his old friend Dr. Billy Taylor at the Kennedy Center’s Theater Lab. He immediately lights up the bandstand with a lively rendition of George Gershwin’s "S’Wonderful."

After the number, Dr. Taylor inquires about Edison’s unique sound, asking whether his trumpet has any special characteristics. Edison replies, "No, [this trumpet’s] as old as my daughter." Dr. Taylor says, "So it’s you . . . not the instrument?" With an understated simplicity that reflects his playing style, Edison remarks, "Well, I do my best to be an originator."

Later, Edison elaborates on his style, noting his tendency to stay in the middle register where he feels he can best exploit his own musical ideas. Edison doesn’t often play in the highest register. He prefers leaving that to players with greater range, saying, "I might as well play where I can play, ‘cause I can’t play up there." It’s Edison’s beautiful tone and ability to draw so much out of fewer notes that characterizes his unique style.

Edison’s tone inspired Basie saxophonist Lester Young to give him the nickname "Sweets." He recalls Young’s knack for giving people nicknames that stuck, citing Billie Holiday’s nickname "Lady Day" as another example. Holiday was lead vocalist in Basie’s band when Edison first joined, and he shares fond memories of the many times they performed together. During the show, Edison plays a romantic rendition of Raoul Ramirez’s "Lover Man," a song he once recorded with Holiday.

Edison remembers having trouble when he first joined Basie’s band. In fact, he almost quit after just six months. According to Edison, Basie’s line-up had been together many years in Kansas City before Basie brought the band to New York. The players all knew the band’s arrangements by heart, so Edison was not given music to read. Recalling his frustration, he says, "I just got tired of guessing what note to play." Then Edison explains Basie's method of working out arrangements by combining the improvised riffs of various band members.

Basie encouraged Edison to stay with the band and find his own notes to play within the existing arrangements. Eventually, Edison became one of Basie’s finest soloists. He wouldn’t actually leave Basie’s band until much later in the 1950s. Afterwards, Basie often came to see Edison perform on his own. According to Edison, Basie always requested that he play "You Come to Me Out of Nowhere." On that note, "Sweets" plays a wonderful rendition of that number in honor of the Count.

Responding to more questions from the audience, Edison comments on the influence Basie drummer Joe Jones had on early bebop drummers like Max Roach. He then goes on to perform "High Top Brown Shoe Blues" and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s "Wave" before closing with Young’s "Lester Leaps In" as a tribute to his fellow Basie alumnus.