Edwards Will Head South for Young Tribute

It’s a busy year for Teddy Edwards, the Jackson, Miss., native who’s been a stalwart of the Los Angeles jazz community for more than four decades.

Trips to Europe, festivals in the United States and a steady stream of local engagements make up the reliable, never-far-from-the-blues tenorman’s current schedule. He plays Sunday at Santa Monica Folk and Jazz ‘90, on the Bay City’s 3rd Street Promenade, and then flies back to Mississippi on Thursday.

“I’m going to Woodville, Miss., to do a tribute to Lester Young, who was born there (in 1909),” said the 66-year-old Edwards. Among the invited guests will be octogenarian bassist Milt Hinton, who has worked with everyone from Cab Calloway to Branford Marsalis.

Though Edwards has long made trips to Europe, he has been there more times this year than in any past memory, he said. A highlight was a festival in Amsterdam in July that included a tribute to Sarah Vaughan, who was a close musical friend of the saxophonist’s.

“We had known each other since 1944, and I first heard her in 1942 at the Paradise Theater (in Detroit), when she was both singing and playing piano with Earl Hines’ band,” said Edwards. “We played together many, many times and I made two LPs with her, one she liked to say was her greatest record, ‘Sarah Vaughan With Jimmy Rowles and Friends.’ ”

At the tribute in Amsterdam, Edwards found himself in good company: trumpeters Clark Terry and Harry (Sweets) Edison, pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Jimmy Woode, drummer Ed Thigpen and singers Mel Torme and Deborah Brown. “We played in the Carre Theatre, an old auditorium with a great sound. We all did something associated with her. Later, Clark and I played played a quintet set that featured drummer Alvin Queen. We had a burner going on with that one.”

After Amsterdam, Edwards traveled to Portland, Ore., to visit and play with another longtime associate, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, who moved to the Pacific Northwest city about five years ago. “We played an outdoor concert at the Portland Zoo, and then we worked at a club called the Hobbit,” he said. “Man, we got a fantastic reception. You know, a lot of people still like blues and ballads and swinging.”

DANCE, BABY, DANCE: Eddie Brown, the veteran jazz tap master who has performed with Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, guests with Lynn Dally’s Jazz Tap Ensemble tonight and Saturday at the Westwood Playhouse (10886 LeConte Ave., Westwood, (213) 208-5454). The 8 p.m. performances include the musical talents of trumpeter Stacy Rowles, pianist Jeff Colella, bassist Eric Von Essen and drummer Jerry Kalaf.