Eddie Locke moved to New York City in 1954, where he met Papa Jo Jones, who became his mentor. Eddie also started to work there with Dick Wellstood, Tony Parenti, Red Allen, Willie \"The Lion\" Smith, Teddy Wilson, and Roy Eldridge.

In the 1970s Eddie Locke played with Lee Konitz, Tiny Grimes, and Earle Warren in addition to remaining in Eldridge\'s band at Jimmy Ryan\'s through the end of the 1970s.

He also drummed with Teddy Wilson, Lee Konitz, Ray Bryant, Red Allen, Teddy Wilson, Kenny Burrell en Earl Hines, and was featured in The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Eddie Locke continued to perform often into the 1990s and kept teaching at the Trevor Day School and the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan.

In 2007 Adam Nussbaum and Steve Smith asked Locke to show his craftmanship with brushes for their dvd box set \'The Art Of Playing With Brushes\'.