Calvin Hiawatha Edwards

May he rest in peace

May 14, 1957 ~ June 2, 2023 (age 66)

HEARTS was honored to feature the Calvin Edwards Trio at our first Junion event in June 2022. Calvin loved the HEARTS mission and wanted to return, but sadly was taken from us too soon by cancer. His spirit lives on in HEARTS. Thank you, Calvin.

Born in Kings Mountain N.C., Calvin was a well-known international artist. He performed in Okinawa, Tokyo for the G8 Summit for President Clinton and also in China. Calvin performed all over the USA including San Francisco, New York, Charleston, the 2005 NAMM SHOW in Anaheim, CA, the Romare Bearden 99th Birthday Bash, the grand opening of the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, the Fall for Greenville event in SC, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC and the Guilford College Homecoming in Greensboro, NC, just to name a few.

At 17, he joined the famous Gospel group Five Blind Boys of Alabama for many years. Then, he moved to L.A. to play in his brother’s band, The Jett Edwards Band. During this time, Calvin and his brother recorded two albums together, including one song which George Benson recorded.

Mr. Edwards released four CDs as a band leader and performed with and/or booked various artists through Chasity Music including Tom Brown, Tuck & Patti, Michael White, Kei Akagi, Lonnie Plaxico, Benny Maupin, Hidefumi Toke, Javon Jackson, Michael O’Neil, Ron Brown, Ali Jackson, Michael Paluo, Michael Wolf, Roy Ayers, Everette Harp, Dan Siegel, Phil Perry, and more.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Edwards.