Going Solo
He returned to the Embassy Club under the leader Ramon Lopez, but by October 1948 he had established his own rumba band. On the 18th of October the band made its first broadcast on Band Parade, receiving such good reviews they were back ten days later. By May 1949 they had made over twenty broadcasts, and in June they replaced Hermanos Deniz at the popular Coconut Grove. The following month they were doubling at Fischers restaurant alongside the Paul Vaughan Quintet, and on July the 15th Eddie featured in a solo spot on the radio show Caribbean Carnival.
In November Eddie surprised everyone by becoming the musical director of the newly opened Jewish restaurant Selby’s in Hanover Street. It was advertised as the west end’s only Jewish dance and dine establishment.
It also gave him the distinction of being the only rumba leader besides Edmundo Ros to hold the post of MD in a west end restaurant. A Melody maker article in April 1950 reported 'Any rumba band that includes the Calvert trumpet must have an advantage to start with. I should say he is about the most brilliant player of this idiom in the country.'
In July 1950 Eddie and his band appeared on the radio show Melody Express with newly signed vocalist Ricardo and guest Doreen Lundy. Further broadcasts followed with the Cyril Stapleton Orchestra on the show Let’s Make Music, and in August the band made appearances in Bury, Oxford, Plymouth, Petersfield and Weymouth.
A radio review in Melody Maker on august the 12th reminded readers that they had nicknamed Eddie ‘The Champ’ because of the number of prizes he had won as a young boy. They went on to say “ On this broadcast The Champ played very well, he has a fast clean technique and a lovely warm tone reminiscent of Harry James.”
In December Eddie and his band recorded four sides for the independent label Melodisc. The session took place at Selbys and included ‘Gypsy Lullaby’,‘Misiriou’, ‘Mambo’ and ‘Nague’. Eddie finished the year at the Palladium as a guest on a new years eve ‘swing session’ with the Ted Heath band.
In February 1951 the Melody Makers readers voted Eddie’s rumba band into second place behind Edmundo Ros. In the Trumpet poll Kenny Baker came first with 742 votes whilst Eddie with 108 came 8th. Eddie’s reputation was growing, but a lot of his broadcasts were of the late night variety. That changed in April when BBC producer Johnnie Stewart began featuring him as a solo artist on his prime time series Top Score. According to Josie Calvert it was a trumpet arrangement of ‘September song’ that got people sitting up and taking notice. It was also during one of these shows that Eddie got the tag ‘The Man With The Golden Trumpet’. Comedian and compere Alfred Marks having lost his place in the script , announced Eddie as the Man with the Golden Trumpet. Eddie living up to the billing immediately arranged for his trumpet to be gold plated.
His next and final recording for Melodisc was ‘With a Song in my Heart’. Columbia Records on hearing this track offered Eddie a contract which he signed in September. Work started straight away on his first two titles, ‘Song of the Golden Trumpet’ and ‘Summertime’ which were released later in October. In the Meantime he signed a new contract with Selby’s on the 22nd of September, and increased his band to ten with the addition of tenor sax star Jimmy Skidmore, Bob Dell, and Albert Harris.
Radio engagements continued with All Star Bill, Top Score and Contrasts in Rhythm, in which he was joined by Humphrey Littleton and his band. Besson, the makers of his New Creation Trumpet featured him in their advertising, and he was making personal appearances all over the country. In November, Columbia released the title ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ and as reported in the Melody Maker, the Calvert trumpet was working overtime.
It was also time to make a life changing decision on whether to leave his band and take up the offers of Variety work. In a later article Eddie wrote " Radio dates were coming in, recording companies were very interested, and most important of all, my boys were the grandest bunch of fellows anyone could wish to meet. To leave all this was at first unthinkable, but radio and variety offers were coming in." To his knowledge a solo instrumentalist had not attempted variety before and so a few sleepless nights followed.
At the beginning of November the impressario, producer and manager Jack Fallon offered Eddie a five year contract, and on the 1st of December 1951, Melody Maker reported that Eddie was to join forces with the Malcolm Mitchell Trio in the following February for a country wide tour of variety theatres.
It went on to say that "Eddie, whose recent jump to fame as a solo star has been one of the greatest things in the annals of the profession, will feature his own solos and play with the trio". On the 6th of December, Eddie played his last session at Selby's and also recorded 'Ave Maria'. There was now no turning back, and a new year and a new challenge was just a few weeks away.