text: Duke Edwards\nFollowing a stint in military service, drummer/singer Eddie 'Duke' Edwards studied at Berklee in Boston between 1958-1961. Joining the north-eastern US chitlin circuit, he later travelled up to Montreal where he met jazz musician Sun Ra. During his 3-year stint working with Sun Ra, he appeared on the soundtrack album 'Grain of Salt'. In 1964, he was introduced to booking agent Ron Scribner and together they formed a company to promote local talent in Toronto. One of the bands they worked with was R&B outfit, Jon and Lee & The Checkmates. Edwards became the group's manager and musical director, as well as provider of material, composing the track, 'Pork Chops', which graced the b-side of the band's lone single, 'Bring It Down Front'. In mid-1967, he parted company with the group and returned to Montreal where he worked as musical director for the World Fair. He subsequently formed Duke Edwards & The Young Ones, an ambitious experimental jazz band that signed to US label Prestige and recorded 3 albums' worth of music. Following the release of a lone album, 'Introducing Duke Edwards & The Young Ones' in mid-1968 and opening for Jimi Hendrix and Aretha Franklin among others, he signed a solo deal with Polydor Records. Edwards subsquently formed a new band, The Cycle to record the intended album for Polydor but an offer to join Rhinoceros in August 1969 resulted in the project being scrapped. Edwards remained with Rhinoceros until the summer of 1970 when he dropped out to pursue other projects. He currently heads the Louis Armstrong Foundation in New Orleans and is working on the restoration of the largest surviving plantation in the American South, the 'Evergreen Plantation'.\n\nYou can try to contact The Louis Armstrong Foundation in New Orleans to see if he is still active in the foundation.