Ed McKenzie's Dance Party

"I think Philly was referring to Minton's Playhouse. In those days musicians would think twice before they got on the bandstand." Eddie Lockjaw Davis

Ethan Iverson in a recent post writes:

Recently Oliver Lake tweeted "happy birthday" to Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.  I [Iverson] responded, "If I played tenor, I'd spend all my time not with TraneSonnyWayne but Lockjaw, Byas, Gonsalves, A. Cobb, G. Ammons, B.Webster, Lucky T."  

http://dothemath.typepad.com/ 

I first became aware of master musician, tenor saxophonist, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis when I was in grade school in Highland Park, Michigan. The disc jockey Ed McKinzie had a weekly TV show, Ed McKinzie's Dance Party, that featured musicians who were performing a clubs in and around Detroit, the Rouge Lounge was one such club. It was on the Ed McKinsey TV show that I first saw and heard Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. It was on McKinsey's Dance Party that I saw and heard Art Tatum, Charlie Parker and Charlie Ventura (among many others).

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis was a fabulous tenor saxophonist.

Ed McKenzie was a very famous disc jockey - radio and TV personality - in Detroit, Michigan in the 1950s. His radio programs were broadcast on WJLB and then on WXYZ. His TV Dance Party was broadcast on WXYZ-TV.

                           Paradise Theater-Detroit: Illinois Jacquet & Ed McKenzie

                                       Illinois Jacquet, Sarah Vaughan & Ed McKenzie

Ed McKenzie donated his photograph collection to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. There are 67 photographs of musicians who appeared on his radio and TV programs. In addition to these photos are photographs of the back-sides of the photos that contain Ed McKenzie's personal reflections on the subjects of the photos. McKenzie's annotations and comments provide us with perceptive insights about Detroit and music in the late1940s and1950s. Take a look using the museum's link below:

http://chwmaah-archive.com/?cat=218 

Ed McKenzie was/is a fabulous soulful man. He quit WXYZ in 1959 in protest to formula radio. See:

http://www.mcrfb.com/?p=26102