BIOGRAPHY PAGE

ED METZ JR.
Drums

Ed Metz Jr. was born in Allentown, PA and raised in Ann Arbor, MI. "Little Eddie" was given his first pair of drumsticks at the age of three from the drummer in his Dad's Dixieland band. At the age of 12 he played his first professional job, and hasn't stopped since. In 1982, while attending the acclaimed jazz studies program at William Paterson College in NJ, Eddie spent six months touring with the Count Basie Orchestra. 

Known for his rock-solid time and swinging musical approach, Eddie has become the drummer of choice for many jazz performers. A short list includes such names as Dick Hyman, Warren Vache', Jr., Chick Corea, The Woody Herman Orchestra, Clark Terry, Arturo Sandoval, Scott Hamilton, Bill Allred, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ralph Sutton, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Eddie Higgins, Ken Peplowski, Tommy Newsom, Wycliffe Gordon, Kenny Drew, Jr., Bob Wilber, Kenny Davern, Milt Hinton, and many more.

Over the past ten years, Eddie has recorded on several labels, including Arbors Jazz, Fantasy, Apple Jazz and many others produced by independent artists. In 1999, the Nagel-Heyer label of Hamburg, Germany, gave him the opportunity to record his first CD as a leader.  The recording, entitled "Tough Assignment", is a tribute to Dave Tough, one of the great drummers of the 30s and 40s. Eddie's hand-picked musicians included Harry Allen, Randy Sandke, John Allred, Allan Vache', Johnny Varro and Phil Flanigan.

For the past 20 years Eddie has lived in the Orlando, Florida area where he spent 14 years as a full-time staff musician at Walt Disney World. He continues to work at Disney as a seasonal performer and clinician and is also on the teaching staff at several jazz camps around the country, including Sacramento and Mammoth Lakes, CA.  Eddie keeps an active schedule, traveling the world with a calendar full of concerts, festivals, tours, jazz cruises and recordings. Visit Eddie on the web at www.eddiemetzjr.com