Harry "Sweets" Edison

Elegantly swinging.

In the late 1970s, I would occasionally get called to sub on a house trio gig in Chicago. The regular bassist was Jim Atlas. He was sort of an institution in the city, a very successful studio musician and a good jazz player. He had been around New York in the 1950s and had played with Jimmy Giuffre and others there.

As I started to sub for him, it becam…