Biography
Uncertainty persists among researchers regarding whether the reedman's family name concludes with "lack" or "lock," yet the musician known variously as Eddie Pollack or Edward Pollock projected a forceful presence across Chicago speakeasies and nightclubs throughout the 1920s. As a versatile reed specialist he accompanied both Ma Rainey and Al Jolson while also stepping forward as a vocalist. Erskine Tate provided his saxophone instruction, and historical records place his initial professional outing on the instrument at an unlicensed liquor venue in Robins, IL, during the summer of 1925.
By autumn of that year he had joined Detroit Shannon's ensemble; over the next ten years his horns appeared with numerous Chicago jazz units, among them Jimmie Noone's, several of which produced preserved recordings. One extended national tour alongside bandleader Carl White stands as a rare departure from Lake Michigan's vicinity. During the 1940s Pollack largely withdrew from sideman duties, instead fronting his own ensembles and settling into extended house-band residencies. His performing life eventually concluded when the once-prominent Chicago figure shifted focus to real estate, echoing the sentiment voiced in Colonel Bruce Hampton's lyric: "If I had it to do over, I'd go into real estate."
By autumn of that year he had joined Detroit Shannon's ensemble; over the next ten years his horns appeared with numerous Chicago jazz units, among them Jimmie Noone's, several of which produced preserved recordings. One extended national tour alongside bandleader Carl White stands as a rare departure from Lake Michigan's vicinity. During the 1940s Pollack largely withdrew from sideman duties, instead fronting his own ensembles and settling into extended house-band residencies. His performing life eventually concluded when the once-prominent Chicago figure shifted focus to real estate, echoing the sentiment voiced in Colonel Bruce Hampton's lyric: "If I had it to do over, I'd go into real estate."