Ernie Edwards Jr

Ernie Edwards Jr Trio

“My interest in music began when I was about seven years old.  At that time, I attended the New York Institute for the Blind and one of my teachers noticed that I had rhythm. My mother bought a toy piano for me to play with since I seemed interested in music. She would sit and hum songs on the bed and I eventually learned how to play the songs by ear.  On weekends when I came home from St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Jersey City, New Jersey, (1962-1971), I would take off my coat and head straight for the piano and play for hours”.  

Born in Brooklyn New York (1953), Ernie lost his ability to see shortly thereafter and has spent his entire life without vision. Ernie spent countless hours learning and listening to all types of music as a young child growing up in Newark, New Jersey. His ability to memorize sounds and then convert those sounds into musical notes is in itself a major accomplishment. As time went own, Ernie was able to start playing complete songs and learning the keys on his piano. He recalls when his father asked his neighbor at the time, Jimmy McGriff, to give him some tips on the organ, but unfortunately, Mr. McGriff was not available as he maintained a very busy schedule at the time. Ernie continued on with his father pressing forward trying to make a career out of his musical skills. Ernie has been able to master the playing style of one of his favorite artists, Erroll Garner. He plays a stride style in addition to the short lagging cords as well. Ernie often starts a song with a short classical intro or rendition that throws the crowd off beat and then moves right into rhythmic cadence that leads to the main melody. He also loves the music of George Shearing. Throughout his career, Ernie has performed in a number of venues around the New Jersey / New York area. Ernie continues to play at church every Sunday for mass, a job he has had for several years.  

Ernie’s trio consists of Newton, Kansas natives bassist, Jacob Webb and when he’s not touring, his older brother Nathan on drums. Jacob is currently a student at William Patterson University and Nathan is a recent graduate. Jacob and Nathan perform with the style and skill of artists many years their senior. One would think that with the challenges that Ernie has had in his life, he might give up. Not Ernie. With some help and guidance from his management company, his career is on track and headed not just up but in directions that he never would have imagined.

“When I started performing professionally at thirteen, I played rock and roll, jazz and classical music.  I gravitated to jazz, in part because my father did not like rock and roll, and he believed that audiences would prefer to hear jazz. I also preferred jazz and classical to rock and roll because to me rock and roll only had a rhythm and beat, and it was hard to play rock and roll songs unless you were part of a group.  Jazz and classical, on the other hand, were more complex and enabled me to improve my skill and technique. I eventually settled on playing more jazz because it was moving and inspirational and it gave me the freedom to improvise. I think Garner was a genius.  He had no formal training, he could not read music, and he rarely practiced.  However, his phrasing was exceptional. For years, I carefully listened to his unique style and pictured how his fingers floated over the keys. I also listened to other favorites, George Shearing, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and many others. Eventually, I began to create my own style.

This recording, “One Good Turn”, is a great accomplishment for Ernie not only to have such great talent with him but to also pay homage to his long time musical hero, Erroll Garner as a celebration of his birthday. Listen and enjoy.