I Wish I Knew - Harry Edison

The 1945 Harry Warren composition "I Wish I Knew" has been a favourite of trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison for many years.

He performs it here at a jazz party in Vienna Austria with the excellent rhythm group of Milt Hinton bass, Marion McPartland piano, and Louie Bellson on drums Harry "Sweets" Edison (1915 --1999), was born in Columbus, Ohio. At the age of 12, 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 the early 1950s, he settled on the West Coast and became a highly sought-after studio musician, making important contributions to recordings by such artists as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. In 1956 he recorded the first of three albums with tenor great Ben Webster.

Ih his later years he appeared frequently in Europe and Japan until shortly before his demise..