Inge, Edward (Frederick)
Inge, Edward (Frederick)
Inge, Edward (Frederick), jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, arranger; b. Kansas City, Mo., May 7, 1906; d. Buffalo, N.Y., Oct. 8, 1988. Inge began playing clarinet at the age of 12, and later studied in conservatories in St. Louis and Madison, Wisc. His professional debut was with the George Reynolds Orch. (1924). He played with Dewey Jackson before joining Art Simms in Milwaukee. After Simms’s death, he worked with Oscar “Bernie” Young until late 1926. He was with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers (late 1930-31), and with Don Redman until 1939. In early 1940, he joined Andy Kirk (replacing Don Byas), but left in 1943. He did regular arranging for Kirk, and also scored for many bandleaders including Don Redman, Jimmie Lunceford, and Louis Armstrong. Inge led his own band in Cleveland (1945), then settled in Buffalo and founded his own business. He led own band in Buffalo in the 1950s and 1960s, and also worked in Cecil Johnson’s Band in the 1960s. He was with C.Q. Price’s Band in Buffalo in the early 1970s.
—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter