African American, Chicago blues saxophonist, singer and songwriter.
Born March 20, 1937 in Stringtown, Mississippi, USA.
Died January 29, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Growing up near Greenville, Mississippi, Eddie’s adolescent friends included a number of musicians who would one day become fellow Chicago bluesmen such as Little Milton Campbell, Left Hand Frank Craig, Johnny “Big Moose” Walker and L.V. Banks. Eddie and his close companion Oliver Sain were just two of the many blues and jazz horn players to come from Coleman High School. They joined other formally trained musicians in Greenville’s sophisticated, urban jump-blues bands, which featured four- and five-man horn sections. Eddie and Oliver made the rounds of the local nightclubs, schools, and dances, and often traveled through the Delta to play with bands such as Ike Turner’s and Guitar Slim’s. Eddie, who played trombone and clarinet before switching to saxophone, also put in some time with more traditional local bluesmen like Sain’s stepfather, Willie Love and guitarist Charles Booker. In 1957, after Eddie sat in with the Muddy Waters band in Itta Bena, Mississippi. Muddy hired him on the spot, and Eddie arrived in Chicago as a member of the top band in town. In 1972 he joined Howlin’ Wolf as his bandleader. After Burnett’s death in 1976, Eddie Shaw took over the band and its residency at the 1815 Club, renamed Eddie’s Place.
Father of Eddie Vaan Shaw Jr..