Marc Edwards (born July 23, 1949) is a free jazz drummer who has played and recorded with artists such as

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...

Charles Gayle Charles Gayle (February 28, 1939 – September 7, 2023) was an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performed as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassi ...

, and

David S. Ware David Spencer Ware (November 7, 1949 – October 18, 2012) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. Biography Ware was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, and grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. While in high school he att ...

. His influences include

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

and

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

. He is currently playing with a project with

Weasel Walter Weasel Walter (born Christopher Todd Walter, May 18, 1972) is an American composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of ugEXPLODE Records. Walter's work has been informed by techniques and traditions of music including A ...

, and with his own group, Marc Edwards Slipstream Time Travel, an afrofuturistic

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

ensemble. Many of his solo works have a

science fiction theme The following is a list of articles about recurring themes in science fiction. Overarching themes * First contact with aliens *Artificial intelligence ** Machine rule/Cybernetic revolt/AI takeover *Extraterrestrials in fiction *End of humani ...

. He also plays in the band Cellular Chaos, his first foray into

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

drumming.

Biography

Edwards was raised in New York City, and did not initially take an interest in music. He dabbled with several instruments, but it was during junior high school when he was able to get out of wood shop class by playing drums that he first played the instrument. In 1994. Edwards returned to music after a lengthy hiatus. He formed Slipstream Time Travel and released their first record, ''Time and Space Vol. 1''. Current members are

Ernest Anderson III Ernest Anderson III is a New York City based jazz guitarist and bassist. He has played with or done recordings with Rhys Chatham, is a frequent collaborator of Martin Bisi Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter. He is ...

, Takuma Kanaiwa, Alex Lozupone, Gene Janas, Alexis Marcelo. This line-up's performance at the Dizzy Gillespie Fundraiser of 2012 was described as "''a climactic point in the evening’s program ''". Edwards was interviewed on

WKCR WKCR-FM (89.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the first operations o ...

New York City after the release of ''Time & Space, Vol. 1'' and ''Red Sprites & Blue Jets''. During the 1970s, Apogee performed live on the station two separate occasions. His trio with

Sabir Mateen Sabir Mateen (born April 16, 1951) is an American musician and composer from Philadelphia. His musical style is primarily avant-garde jazz. He plays tenor and alto saxophone, B♭ and alto clarinet, and flute. As a young man, Mateen was origi ...

and

Hilliard Greene Hilliard Greene (born February 26, 1958) is an American bassist (playing both double bass, and bass guitar) specializing in modern creative, improvised, and jazz music, as well as a music educator. Life and work Hilliard Greene studied at the B ...

, performed at WKCR again just before playing at the

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment and is co-owned and co-operated by Knitting Factory Entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United Stat ...

's sponsored festival, the Texaco Jazz Festival in 1997. In 2013, Marc Edwards contributed a version of "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

" to a benefit album to raise funds for Donovan Drayton's release from prison and trial. He also released a CD with his new group Sonos Gravis, which was described as "freely fused out rock that takes "free jazz" and cranks it." The album was listed as #12 on Steve Holtje's ''Top Jazz albums of 2013'', along with his release with Slipstream Time Travel called Planet X Just Blew Up!, which was #13.

The New York City Jazz Record ''The New York City Jazz Record'' is a New York City based monthly free newspaper about jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

says that "Sonos Gravis could, in fact, be the conceptual merger of the

New York Art Quartet The New York Art Quartet was a free jazz ensemble, originally made up of saxophonist John Tchicai, trombonist Roswell Rudd, drummer Milford Graves and bassist Lewis Worrell, that came into existence in 1964 in New York City. Worrell was later repla ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

and Last Exit, though despite signposts reflecting noise and free jazz, this music has little actual precedent". Grego Applegate Edwards described his 2014 release, Sakura Sakura, as "''very vibrant free rock, a sort of Ascension in the metal zone. It is bracing. You will either gravitate towards it by predisposition or not. And that has something to do with your open mind about a free metal blast or the opposite.''" He says of the 2015 release, Mystic Mountain, “This may be their most anarchically exhilarating album yet!”. For many years, Edwards played only jazz drums, but recently has started playing rock and punk.

Discography

see Marc Edwards Discography

References

External links

Official FacebookAllaboutjazz interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Marc Living people Free jazz drummers American jazz drummers 1949 births Avant-garde jazz drummers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Steeler (American band) members 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Drummers from New York City