1999 Elkhart Jazz Festival Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

Born and raised in New England, Eddie Higgins started his professional career in Chicago while studying at the Northwestern University Music School. For 20 years, he worked at some of Chicago’s best-known jazz clubs, including the Brass Rail, Preview Lounge, Blue Note, Cloister Inn and Jazz Ltd., but his longest and most memorable job was at the London House where he led the house trio for 12 years, playing opposite the biggest jazz stars of the ‘50s and ‘60s. To name a few: Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Errol Garner, George Shearing, Cannonball Adderly and Bill Evans.

During the same period, Eddie recorded many albums under his own name and many more as a sideman with a variety of musicians. Eddie’s versatility is well known; he has backed singers, done studio work as both pianist and arranger, and worked in every jazz idiom from Dixieland to Modern Jazz.

In 1970, Eddie moved to Fort Lauderdale and began spending his winters in Florida and his summers on Cape Cod, where he plays at local clubs. One of his favorite musical colleagues in Florida is the legendary multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, with whom Eddie has co-led several award-winning groups.

He met the jazz singer/pianist Meredith d’Ambrosio in 1987. They were married the next year and have since become a popular jazz team at clubs and festivals, as well as recording together for SunnySide Records.