Born in Hertfordshire, England in 1943, Edward Tait's earliest musical involvement was as a boy chorister. In his teens he studied percussion. When he entered the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music he was singing in the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and playing dance and jazz gigs around Toronto.

He began studying the double bass and became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 1964 where he met Frederick Zimmerman. On graduation he spent the 1966/67 season with the New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony and studied with Principal Bassist Robert Rohe.

Awarded a Canada Council grant to study with Fred Zimmerman in 1967, Mr. Tait instead returned to Toronto and studies with Thomas Monohan after Mr. Zimmerman's untimely death. After two years of freelancing in Toronto with the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet of Canada, the Festival Singers, the New Hampshire Summer Music Festival, Theatre, Dance and Jazz gigs, he joined the National Arts Centre Orchestra as Assistant Principal Bass in 1969. A member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 1971, he has been the Assistant Principal Bass for 25 years. He plays chamber music, studio recording sessions and teaches at York and Toronto Universities. Mr. Tait also plays in Canada's oldest double bass quartet, "Basstiality", and the Symphony Winds. His hobbies include sailing, canoeing, golfing and skiing.