I have been a fan of drummer Donald Edwards for quite a while, and I’m thrilled that I’ll get to play some of his music with him for Resonant Motion’s upcoming Jazz Up Close event on September 14. While he is rightly known as one of the most grooving and versatile drummers on the jazz scene, folks would be well served not to overlook his track record as a composer and bandleader. In addition to more music by folks mentioned below, I had to omit a number of wonderful collaborators for the sake of space, including records by Marcus Printup, Jack Walrath, Conrad Herwig, George Colligan, Joey Calderazzo, and Wayne Escoffery, among others. Without any further ado, here’s a Donald Edwards sampler platter, presented in chronological order.

1 ) “You Don’t Know What Love Is” from Forever Love by Mark Whitfield (1996)

Though not Donald’s first recording credit (in particular a couple Wessell Anderson albums), here we hear his first appearance (to my awareness) on a major label recording. Normally a guitarist’s ballads-with-strings wouldn’t be much of a showcase for a young drummer, and indeed he doesn’t steal Whitfield’s thunder, but underneath Dale Oehler’s lush arrangement, we hear Donald demonstrate both sensitivity and flexibility on brushes and sticks, with some energized yet subtle swing in there as well.

2 ) “Tensions” from I Am Three by Mingus Big Band, Orchestra, and Dynasty (2004)

This gnarly recording represents Donald’s important work with the Mingus Big Band. He pushes the band throughout and has a solo of his own. Interestingly, this also represents his first recorded meetings with the other two soloists on the track, both of whom would go on to be important long-term collaborators. He and bassist Boris Kozlov (who also arranged this tune) have since amassed more than two dozen additional recording credits together, and saxophonist Abraham Burton is now an important contributor to Donald’s band.

3 ) “Pinocchio” from album by Ximo Tebar (2005)

While best known for his modern jazz playing, Donald can lay down a funky backbeat like nobody’s business. Here we get to hear him do so on a classic (and more typically swung) Wayne Shorter composition alongside guitarist Tebar, pianist Rob Bargad, and electric bass legend Anthony Jackson.

4 ) “Asami’s Playland” from Introducing Opus 5 by Opus 5 (2011)

This is the second recording (after a now out of print Mark Whitfield record) of Donald’s gorgeously moody original waltz. It also documents the first recorded meeting of this Criss Cross Records collective project with Kozlov, saxophonist Seamus Blake, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, and pianist David Kikoski, who have gone on to make four more records together under the Opus 5 moniker.

5 ) “Little Rascal” from Together by Anthony Branker (2012)

This session is the first of four to date where Donald underpins the rhythm section of a band assembled to bring life to composer Anthony Branker’s wonderful work. We get to hear Donald’s way with Latin grooves in the intro of the tune and for fleeting moments thereafter, with the performance primarily inhabiting the world of up-tempo swing that he is known for executing so masterfully. In addition to Donald, featured soloists include Mark Gross on alto saxophone as well as tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen, another important collaborator in several different contexts. 

6 ) “African Song” from …It Was Beauty by Orrin Evans (2013)

By the time of this session by pianist Orrin Evans, he and Donald had appeared on well over a dozen records together, and the depth of their shared intuition is particularly apparent as they navigate the fluid yet not amorphous rubato of this sweeping performance in a “two bass hit” with both Ben Wolfe and Eric Revis.

7 ) “The Dream” from Evolution of an Influenced Mind (2013)

There are some real burners on this album, the first of Donald’s three to date under his own name for Criss Cross Records. That said, both his sensitive playing and evocative writing on this original ballad are particularly irresistible. Each of the quintet members (including saxophonist Walter Smith, III, guitarist David Gilmore heard here on acoustic, pianist Evans, and bassist Revis) gets to shine here.

8 ) “Incantation” from Prelude to Real Life (2015)

This is another slick earworm from Donald’s pen, starting off burning and coalescing into a vehicle for his way with finger-popping medium-tempo swing. Luques Curtis mans the bass chair in a band otherwise unchanged from the previous session on the list, and I challenge anybody to listen to this track without involuntarily scrunching into a stank-face or shaking at least one body part.

9 ) “Dock’s House” from Solid Moments by Idle Hands (2019)

Donald has appeared on about a dozen records for the Posi-Tone label, some of them with collective ensembles that feature some of his original work. Here he and Kozlov anchor a band featuring soloists Sam Dillon on saxophone, Behn Gillece on vibes, Art Hirahara on piano, and Will Bernard on guitar. This Edwards original is one of the many examples of him displaying the seamless integration of swing and New Orleans-flavored funk.

10 ) “Red” from The Color of Us Suite (2020)

When I saw that Donald received the Chamber Music America “New Jazz Works” grant in 2018 (10 years after I got the same good news, resulting in my “Know Thyself” suite) I was excited to see what his pen would come up with, and the deeply moving Color of Us Suite exceeded my already-lofty expectations. Really the whole suite warrants a close, uninterrupted listen, but in the spirit of the select-tracks nature of this list, I chose this one, which deftly morphs throughout from driving swing to Latin feel to more amorphous rhythmic fluidity. Guitarist Gilmore, saxophonist Burton, and bassist Wolfe (represented on various tracks above) are joined by pianist Anthony Wonsey.