Ed Lewis (musician)
American musician (1909–1985)
Ed Lewis (January 22, 1909 – September 18, 1985) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Career
Born in Eagle City, Oklahoma, Lewis played early in his career in Kansas City, Missouri, with Jerry Westbrook as a baritone hornist, then switched to trumpet in 1925. He played with Paul Banks and Laura Rucker before joining the Bennie Moten Orchestra, where he played from 1926 to 1932 and was the primary trumpet soloist until Hot Lips Page became a member. In the 1930s he worked with Thamon Hayes (1932–34), Harlan Leonard (1934–37), and Jay McShann (1937). In 1937 Lewis joined the Count Basie Orchestra, where he remained until 1948; he recorded frequently with Basie but almost never soloed.
In the 1950s Lewis led his band in New York City for local performances and worked for a while as a taxi driver. He returned to play with the Countsmen in Europe in 1984 shortly before his death. Lewis never led a recording session.
The public source identifies “Ed Lewis (musician)” as american musician (1909–1985). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lewis, musician and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ed Lewis (musician)”, the useful work is to connect “american musician (1909–1985)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1282398. VIAF identifies the subject as 61733492. The Library of Congress control number is no2004073901. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1909, 1985, 1925 and 1926.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ed Lewis (musician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ed Lewis (musician) primary sources, Ed Lewis (musician) archive and Lewis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ed Lewis (musician)”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ed Lewis (musician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.