Edgar Sampson
| Edgar Sampson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Edgar Melvin Sampson |
| Born |
October 31, 1907 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | January 16, 1973 (aged 65) Englewood, New Jersey, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, arranger, instrumentalist |
| Instruments | Saxophone, violin |
| Years active | 1924–1960s |
| Associated acts | Joe Colman, Charlie "Fess" Johnson, Duke Ellington, Rex Stewart, Fletcher Henderson |
Edgar Melvin Sampson (October 31, 1907, New York City, New York – January 16, 1973, Englewood, New Jersey) was a composer, arranger, saxophonist, and violinist. Born in New York City, he started playing violin at age six and picked up the saxophone in high school. He was nicknamed "The Lamb."
Born Edgar Melvin Sampson in 1907, Sampson started his professional career in 1924 with a violin piano duo with Joe Colman. Through the rest of the twenties and early thirties he played with many bands including those of Charlie "Fess" Johnson, Duke Ellington, Rex Stewart and Fletcher Henderson. In 1933 he joined the Chick Webb band. It is while with Webb that Sampson created his most enduring work as a composer, writing "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Don't Be That Way". He left the Webb band in 1936 with a reputation as a composer and arranger that led to freelance work with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Red Norvo, Teddy Hill, Teddy Wilson and Chick Webb. He continued to play sax through the late forties and started his own band (1949-1951). In the late forties through the fifties he worked with Latin performers such as Marceino Guerra, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente as an arranger. He recorded one album under his own name, Swing Softly Sweet Sampson in 1956. Due to illness, he stopped working in the late sixties.
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