Remembering Edgar James Wood and His Love of Piano

One hundred years ago this month, my late father-in-law arrived back in the United States after touring Europe as a piano player for a "American college jazz band." Edgar James Wood (1903-1986) had been an undergraduate at Tufts University (then Tufts College) until May, 1926, but he didn't graduate because he couldn't pass his last class. This image shows Ed as a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity, in the class of 1926. 

Ed had fond memories of his time at Tufts and he attended reunions on and off for decades. My husband donated Ed's Boston-area theater programs from the 1920s to the Tufts Lilly Music Library several years ago.

Love of piano 

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Ed fell in love with the piano as a preteen. He played just about every day, soon performing for grammar school assemblies and later performing at fraternity and sorority dances around Boston to help pay his Tufts tuition. 

During the 1920s jazz era, Ed took his "fake book" to Europe when he played with an "American college jazz band" (made up with different musicians each time) for several summers. They crossed the Atlantic on big ocean liners and performed at resorts in France and Italy to pay for their travel and board. OK, some of the musicians were out of college but still in their 20s and ready for summer adventures.

In college, Ed composed a class song, Ring Forth! which is archived in the Lilly Library to this day. Years later, Ed and a friend composed a song that won an award bestowed by famed composer George Gershwin in Cleveland in 1934. That original music is framed and has pride of place in one of his children's homes.

Insurance by day, piano by night

From the mid-1930s on, Ed became an insurance adjustor but continued to play piano professionally at night and on weekends. These frequent gigs kept him connected with the Cleveland music community as well as providing extra income. Ed purchased a Steinway baby grand piano (manufactured in the year of his birth, 1903) and it was in his living room wherever he and his wife Marian McClure Wood (1909-1983) made their home.

Ed passed away 40 years ago this month. A few years earlier, my hubby had tape recorded a couple of lengthy interviews with his father, which we transcribed and have digitized for the rest of the family to keep. Rest in peace, Ed, you are remembered with much affection and your stories are not forgotten.