Ed Wynne (saxophonist)
Ed Wynne (born 1966) is an American saxophonist, songwriter, and vocalist.
Biography
Early life and education
Ed Wynne was born in July 1966 in Portland, Oregon and grew up on a 16-acre (65,000 m2) farm outside Carlton, Oregon. After learning the recorder at age 10, he decided to play the saxophone because it looked cool in the case. At age 12 he discovered the stage and began an interest in acting and singing at the Gallery Players Theater of Oregon. The saxophone was left in the closet for the next three years. When Ed turned 13 he began home schooling and spent most of his time riding motorcycles and performing at the Gallery Players Theater of Oregon in McMinnville.
Ed moved to Southern California at the age of 15. He picked up the sax again and throughout high school played tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophone while continuing to act and sing. At the age of 16 Ed answered an ad out of a local newspaper, "oldies band looking for sax player". This band, "The Die Hards" became Eds first working situation. While singing and playing 50's & 60's music in the Die Hards he also played sax in his high school jazz band, concert band and marching band. He also joined an original ska and rockabilly band with some high school friends, The Mana Rays.
Career
After graduating from high school Ed spent part of a year at Cal State Fullerton where he became friends with trumpet player Tony Guerrero. Tony & Ed played in a jazz and jazz fusion band called Vision. Vision worked the Orange County jazz circuit in the mid 80's and just missed getting signed. At the last minute the record company decided to sign Tony to a solo contract because he had written most of the band's original material. This experience taught Ed the importance of writing music. He began co-writing music in various styles, practicing the craft of song writing while continuing to play live. By the time he was 21 Ed had played with greats like Roy "Guitar" Gaines, Ronnie Laws, Roland Batista, The Platters and Bill Medley.
By 1987 Ed was a mainstay on the South Central L.A. Club Scene playing places like Marla Gibbs Memory Lane, The Total Experience, Freddy Jets Pied Piper, The Dodger Club and The Page Four. He spent most of his nights playing soul, funk and R&B at the Page Four in the Late Night Express band, Monday night at Memory Lane with the Whodunit Blues Band which included serious blues men Keb' Mo', Charlie Tuna, Monk Higgins and Lermon Howard and Tuesday night jams at Memory Lane with Del Atkins (Anita Baker) and Herman Jackson (Whitney Houston & Stevie Wonder). The Late Night Express backed up local R&B singer Greg Rose of the Rose Brothers. Ed spent over a year in this band with fellow side man Grammy winning guitarist and singer Keb' Mo'.
In late 89 and early 1990 Ed toured with Vesta Williams on her For You Tour. In 1991 Ed was hired by Universal Studios Hollywood to play the part of Blue Lou in the Blues Brothers Rhythm & Blues Review. During his 7 years with the Blues Brothers Show Ed continued to find time to play various gigs and dates for T.V. including the ABC All-Star Pro Sports awards show with Buster Poindexter, a live broadcast from the Universal Amphitheater. Ed co-wrote, co-produced and sang all the lead vocals on the CD, Sneakin In for the band Bad Karma. Bad Karma featured Ed on lead vocals, Rick Zahariades on guitar (co-writer and co-producer), Matt Laug on drums and Lance Morrison on bass. Three songs from the band's first CD have been heard in T.V. movies for Disney, Hallmark and A&E. Ed played Reggae and World Music in Tropical Waves and The World Peace Posse. Ed also produced five summers of musical entertainment for Universal Studios which included everything from a 4 piece beach band to a 10 piece Blues Brothers show band. Ed produced these bands from concept to completion serving as producer, musical director, horn choreographer, contractor, payroll service, saxophonist and lead singer.
After many years at Universal Studios and other Southern California theme parks Ed decided to hit the road a little and took the job of Musical Director for the Emmy-winning performer Wayne Brady. After a year with Wayne Brady Ed joined the Frankie Valli band and then went on the road with The Doobie Brothers for their 2002 summer tour. Currently Ed Wynne can be seen performing live with the Al McKay AllStars and Ellis Hall & The Truth.