The Color of Us Suite Donald Edwards Quintet

• 1 Little Hopes 02:20
• 2 Red 05:32
• 3 White 06:55
• 4 Blue 05:06
• 5 Intro to Black 02:10
• 6 Black 09:46
• 7 Brown 04:15
• 8 Tan 03:23
• 9 Finding Beauty 07:22
• 10 Hurricane Sophia 08:20
• Total Runtime 55:09

Info for The Color of Us Suite

Timing is everything, and as Donald Edwards continues to make recordings, we are able to hear the clarity of his development as a composer and artist. The Color Of US Suite throws the door open to the levers of power and opportunity in rebellion against systems engaging in fundamentally inimical propositions against the humanity of Black people. Art is not created in a vacuum, it represents the culmination of the total breath of one's life experiences represented through a creative medium. It is a direct reflection of the tenor of the times in which it is created. So where talent meets preparation and discipline, at the cross roads these attributes come together for the best expression of artistic genius. Learning and knowing continues to be a hallmark of exceptional talent - the more you know, the more you can do. This recording carries with it the total range in expressions of the freedom concept, the obsession with hope through the infatuation of dreams - the disappointment, anger, and love for the framing of our evolving paradigm from within the prism of democracy. Donald captures those gradations of condition in a high-minded representation of passion, delivered with high-skilled precision, and soulful highs that are as exciting to the gutbucket enthusiast as it is intriguing for the high-brow aficionado.

Donald Edwards Quintet:
Donald Edwards, drums
Anthony Wonsey, piano
Ben Wolfe, bass
David Gilmore, guitar
Abraham Burton, tenor saxophone
Guests:
Sophia Edwards, vocals (track 1)
Frank Lacy, vocals (tracks 2-8)

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 Edwards has performed with jazz greats such as Freddie Hubbard, Joey Calderazzo, The Mingus Big Band, Dynasty & Orchestra, Mark Whitfield, Gregoire Marit, Tom Harrell, Donald Harrison, Jesse Davis, Kurt Elling, Ralph Bowen, Branford Marsalis, Henry Butler, Orrin Evans, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Hunter, Russell Malone, Dave Holland, Conrad Herwig, Alvin Batiste, Alex Sipiagin, Seamus Blake, Joe Locke, Dave Holland, George Colligan, Joe Locke, Diane Schuur and the Harry Connick Show.

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.

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.

This album contains no booklet.