Donald Edwards has played across the globe with some of the finest musicians in jazz and other genres. He has now built a reputation all his own.

Donald Edward's is a 2018 recipient of the Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works Grant, A Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Jazz Project.

After winning the Louisiana Arts Ambassador’s Award in 1994 for Music Composition, Donald Edwards became one of the most sought after drummers on the Baton Rouge/New Orleans music scene. He grew up playing different kinds of music ranging from marching band, hip-hop and pop to r&b, jazz, funk and gospel music. As a result, Edwards is now called on to play many different genres of music and meets them with creative interpretation and virtuosity. Donald Edwards is among the vanguard of players on the New York scene today.

As part of a production team conceived in 2005, with a full-service recording and music production studio, Dirty Soap Ent. LLC (Donald Edwards w/ Antonio Dyre) has work with top artist in the jazz field and beyond. 2013 saw them relocate to The Samurai Hotel Recording Studio in Astoria to team up with master engineer Dave Stoller.

Edwards has 4 recordings as a leader -“In The Vernacular” (Leaning House Label), “Ducktones” (Zoot - T Label), “Evolution Of An Influenced Mind”- (Criss Cross Label) and “Prelude To Real Life”- (Criss Cross) and is also involved in the production of numerous recording projects.

Since his emergence in 1987 Donald Edwards has played across the globe with some of the finest musicians in jazz. He is now building a reputation all his own. Donald Edwards has performed with jazz greats such as Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell, Donald Harrison, Jesse Davis, Greg Tardy, Carmen Lundy, Ralph Bowen. Branford Marsalis, Javon Jackson, Ximo Tebar, Ellis Marsalis, Alex Sipiagin, Wessell Anderson, Orrin Evans, Joey Calderazzo, Wynton Marsalis, The Mingus Big Band, Dynasty & Orchestra, Charlie Hunter, Dave Holland, Dr. Lonnie Smith, David Kikoski, Russell Malone, Conrad Herwig, Alvin Batiste, Seamus Blake, Boris Kozlov, Stefon Harris, Henry Butler, George Colligan and Mark Whitfield.

Edwards is also a member of the Charles Mingus repertory bands, including the Mingus Big Band. (more on: charlesmingus.com)

With skills steeped in and out of the rich and varied traditions of Louisiana, drummer and composer Donald Edwards is dedicated in his pursuit of creative improvisation, compositional development, and experimentation with rhythms through conversing in dialects of a universal language we call music.

Edwards also endorses Ludwig Drums and Sabian Cymbals. You can also check out his artist profile on each of these websites here Ludwig artist profile & Sabian artist profile.