26 Facts About Eddie Costa

Edwin James Costa was an American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer and arranger.

Eddie Costa became known for his percussive, driving piano style that concentrated on the lower octaves of the keyboard.

Eddie Costa had an eight-year recording career, during which he appeared on more than 100 albums; five of these were under his own leadership.

Eddie Costa died, aged 31, in a car accident in New York City.

Eddie Costa was born in Atlas, Pennsylvania, near Mount Carmel, in Northumberland County.

Eddie Costa was taught and influenced on piano by his older, musically trained brother, Bill, and a local piano teacher.

Eddie Costa took paid jobs as a pianist from the age of 15.

In 1949, Eddie Costa played and toured for a few months with violinist Joe Venuti.

Eddie Costa then worked for his brother in New York until, in 1951, Costa was drafted into the army.

In 1954, Eddie Costa made his first recordings, with guitarist Sal Salvador, to whom he had been recommended by trombonist Winding.

Eddie Costa's first recording as leader was in 1956, with his trio featuring bassist Vinnie Burke and drummer Nick Stabulas.

Around this time, Eddie Costa was nicknamed "The Bear" by Burke for his powerful playing.

Eddie Costa was often in recording studios as a sideman around this time: he appeared on approximately 20 albums in both 1956 and 1957.

Eddie Costa's next recording as leader, this time exclusively on vibes, was 1958's Guys and Dolls Like Vibes, recorded over three sessions in January, with Bill Evans, Wendell Marshall and Motian.

Eddie Costa's final recording as leader was The House of Blue Lights, a piano trio album with Marshall and Motian, in 1959.

Eddie Costa was much in demand for recording sessions because of the excellence of his sight-reading and playing on both of his instruments.

Eddie Costa contributed on vibes to Gryce's music for Fred Baker's short dance film On the Sound.

Eddie Costa's final recording session was on July 12,1962, as part of a group assembled by saxophonist Al Cohn mainly from the Benny Goodman band that had toured the Soviet Union earlier that year.

Late at night on July 28,1962, Eddie Costa was killed in a car crash, involving no other vehicles, on New York's Westside Highway at 72nd Street.

Eddie Costa was survived by his wife and four children.

Eddie Costa's playing was more than just one-handed lines: during a period when the typical approach to jazz piano was to concentrate on right-hand solos while adding only basic left-hand support, Eddie Costa used both hands in creating his own vigorous sound.

Eddie Costa's piano playing on the informally recorded album Fuerst Set is typical of his style; it was later described by critic Whitney Balliett:.

Eddie Costa liked to use octave chords in the left hand and single-note lines in the right, and he liked to thunder endlessly down in the lower registers of the piano.

Eddie Costa was chosen as DownBeat jazz critics' new star on piano and vibes for 1957; this was the first time that one artist had won two categories in the same year.

An indication of the esteem in which Eddie Costa was held by musicians is the caliber of those who performed at his memorial concert at The Village Gate on October 8,1962: Charlie Byrd, Al Cohn, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Jim Hall, Coleman Hawkins, Mundell Lowe, Zoot Sims and Clark Terry were among those who played.

Hawkins did not usually play at benefit concerts, but his feelings for Eddie Costa meant that he did what he could to make the seven-hour event a success.