Eddie Heywood was a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 who was popular in the 1940s. His father, Eddie Heyward, Sr. was also a jazz musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 from the 1920s. Heywood, Jr. played with several popular jazz musicians such as Wayman Carver

Wayman Carver

Wayman Carver was an American jazz flautist and reeds player.Carver was one of the earliest flute soloists to perform jazz; while Alberto Socarras preceded him by about five years, Carver was one of very few jazz flautists active in the swing era. His first professional experience was with J. Neal...

 in 1932, Clarence Love

Clarence Love

Clarence Eugene Love is a former American football defensive back who played in the National Football League. Love attended college at the University of Toledo and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 4th round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played with the Eagles , the Baltimore Ravens , and...

 from 1934 to 1937 and Benny Carter

Benny Carter

Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...

 from 1939 to 1940 after moving to New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

After starting his band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

, Heywood would occasionally do back-up for Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...

 in 1941. In 1943, Heywood took several classic solos

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 on a Coleman Hawkins

Coleman Hawkins

Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...

 quartet date (including "The Man I Love

The Man I Love (song)

"The Man I Love" is a popular standard, with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira. Originally part of the 1924 score for the Gershwin government satire Lady, Be Good as "The Girl I Love", the song was deleted from the show as well as from both the 1927 anti-war satire Strike Up...

") and put together the first sextet

Sextet

A sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit....

, including Doc Cheatham and Vic Dickenson

Vic Dickenson

Vic Dickenson was an African-American jazz trombonist. Dickenson's career started out in the 1920s and led him through musical partnerships with such legends as Count Basie , Sidney Bechet and Earl Hines...

. After their version of "Begin the Beguine

Begin the Beguine

"Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter . Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.-Music:The beguine music and dance...

" became a hit in 1944, they had three successful years ahead of them.

Between 1947 to 1950, Heywood was stricken with a partial paralysis

Paralysis

Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...

 of his hands and could not play at all. However, it did not stop him when he made a comeback later in the decade. In the 1950s, Heywood composed and recorded "Land of Dreams

Land of Dreams

Land of Dreams is a 1988 album by Randy Newman full of vignettes of his childhood in New Orleans. The most well-known song on the album is "It's Money That Matters", which rose to the top of the Mainstream Rock chart for two weeks, to become Newman's only number one hit on any U.S...

" and "Soft Summer Breeze" and is probably best known for his 1956 recording of his composition "Canadian Sunset

Canadian Sunset

"Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached #2 on the Billboard chart in 1956. A version sung by Andy Williams was also popular that year, reaching #7 on the Billboard chart...

," all of which he recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 with Hugo Winterhalter

Hugo Winterhalter

Hugo Winterhalter was an American musician.An easy listening arranger and composer, Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's near Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1931, where he played saxophone for the orchestra and sang in two of the choirs...

 and his orchestra. After a second partial paralysis in the 1960s, Heywood made another comeback and continued his career in the 1980s.

Eddie Heywood has a "Star" at 1709 Vine Street on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

.