John Edwards
John Edwards, born in 1964, is a double bassist from London and one of the most in-demand players in European improvised music. His staggering range of techniques, bowed and plucked, percussive and vocal, and his boundless imagination have redefined what the instrument can do and widened its role, whether he plays solo or in a group. He came up through the London scene of the late 1980s and 1990s, and his partnership with the drummer Mark Sanders, in trios with Evan Parker and many others, is one of the great rhythm sections of free music.
The Virtue in If
Eddie Prévost (drums) in trio with Tom Chant (soprano saxophone) and John Edwards (double bass), six improvisations recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston-upon-Thames, on 28 August 2000.
Volume 2
Translucent Sea Blue Vinyl version. Super groups are always risky—the potential for disappointing fans or warring musical styles is high—but when longtime friends and masterful improvisers come together, they usually work. Evident in their first coll…
The Hurrah (LP)
Free improvisation album by the trio released by Otoroku in 2015 in an edition of 500 copies.
In The Know
In 2022 drummer Tollef Østvang enlisted veteran English improvisers Trevor Watts and John Edwards, to form a new trio, as a commission from the Motvind festival.
From the get-go, the three unleashed a remarkably unified onslaught of blissful intensit…
Felix
The great master, improvisational pianist, and musical polymath Steve Beresford; John Edwards, one of the most important double bassists on the global free improv scene; and Mandhira de Saram, an exquisite violinist and former member of the renowned …
Because It Happens
„Not So Late / Because it Happens“ on CD and „Because it Happens“ on LP is the material recorded live on August 5th 2025 in London at legendary Cafe OTO. Three masters of improvisation: Mikołaj Trzaska on saxophone, John Edwards on double bass and Ma…
Sharp Illusion
The boundary-pushing trio known as Last Dream Of The Morning – featuring soprano saxophone titan John Butcher, double bass maestro John Edwards, and percussion innovator Mark Sanders – proudly announces the release of their electrifying new album, Sh…
Choreography Of Fractures
Fundacja Słuchaj proudly announces the release of Choreography of Fractures, a searing new album from the powerhouse trio of bassist John Edwards, trumpeter Luis Vicente, and drummer Vasco Trilla. This recording captures the unbridled intensity of li…
Obliquity
Obliquity is a free jazz record, if you'll forgive the use of such a hoary, old fashioned phrase. Its scorching, heads-down momentum, rhythm and drive places it in direct line of descent from the fierce originators of the genre: Ayler, Sanders, Grave…
3 Of A Kind (Live At Iklectik)
The trio of Wilkinson, Edwards and Noble continue to plot their course ever outward and ever upward. These new songs, recorded in South London at that wonderful performance space - at the heart of the improve scene here at this moment - Iklectik , ar…
Monster
A sensational quartet that was created by Free Music Forum in Austria. Joe McPhee is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser, conceptualist and theoretician. He is currently the member of Trio X, Survival Unit III and has collaborated with Paul…
Obliquity
2007 release ** "Obliquity is a free jazz record, if you'll forgive the use of such a hoary, old-fashioned phrase. Its scorching, heads-down momentum, rhythm and drive, places it in direct line of descent from the fierce originators of the genre: Alb…
This Is Not Speculation
Long-time collaborators and legends of the British improvised music scene, the great saxophone virtuoso John Butcher and the master of the double bass John Edwards, join forces in a duet journey through a fascinating land of sounds, sometimes undisco…
Colapesce
"Colapesce” is an album that delves into the dark and mysterious depths of the Sicilian legend, reinterpreting it through a contemporary and experimental lens. Colapesce, the legendary man-fish who sacrifices himself to support Sicily, becomes a symb…
SoundScapes Festival # 4 Berlin 2023
"Finnish saxophonist Harri Sjöström has been calling Berlin home for nearly 40 years, and for over 10 of them, he has been organizing concerts at venues around the city, featuring a who-is-who of the city's rich improvisation scene and beyond, under …
Mental Shake
*2025 stock* CD version. Cafe OTO's tenth Otoroku release sees a return to the group that kick-started the label -- the veteran German reedsman and free-jazz pioneer Peter Brötzmann with the long-running London bass/drums partnership of John Edwards …
Sold Out
Here today gone tomorrow
"In the quartet on this album, Paul Dunmall has returned to his first love: totally free improvisation based on interaction between the four players. Many aspects of Paul Dunmall’s playing are apparent on this album. His approach is to listen very ca…
The Quartet
Huge tip! It is a huge honour to announce the publication of Peter Brotzmann’s final concerts on Otoroku. When we invited Peter to do a residency at Cafe OTO back in February 2023 we had no idea these would be his last ever shows and he played with s…
Volume 1
*Limited Edition of 100. Pink Vinyl!* Super groups are not a riskless endeavor—but when they’re made up of longtime friends and master improvisers, they tend to work. On their collaboration, simply titled Volume 1, up-and-coming American saxophonist …
Lower Marsh
The record can be considered a sort of farewell note to one of London’s most crucial venues for improvised music and sound art after its unexpected closure in late 2023 due to gentrification. John Butcher had previously collaborated with these three …
Three On A Match
Sophie Agnel plays the whole piano. Its body matters as much as its strings. The keyboard's lid is just as good closed as it is open - in fact it’s best slammed open and closed rapidly. Joined by bassist John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble, Three on…
Flight Mode (Live In Berlin 2023)
"Legendary saxophonist and improviser Harri Sjostrom knows how to build bands. This has certainly been the case since the Lifting The Bandstand album, but back then the great Cecil Taylor was the leader. This is certainly one of the many lessons Harr…
A Field Perpetually At The Edge Of Disorder
I n his review of Exta, the critic Brian Olewnick commented that “there's a tendency on the part of [John Tilbury's] younger companions to defer a bit to him”, adding that, in his view, this was not “necessarily a bad strategy”. In this encounter, th…
Just Another Day At Home
John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, h…
A Night In Alchemia
"This was a fine album, an excellent snapshot of working band at the peak of their not inconsiderable powers." - Tim Niland
Do Disturb
Alan Wilkinson (baritone and alto saxophones, voice), N. O. Moore (electric guitar), John Edwards (double bass) and Eddie Prévost (drums), joined by Nathaniel Catchpole (tenor saxophone), recorded at Cafe OTO, London, on 8 November 2021 and 19 June 2…
Unwalled
You know everyone, Canadian saxophone giant Francois Carrier his long-distance musical friend also from Canada, Michel Lambert, probably the best free improvised sideman John Edwards and the legend of the European free music world Alexander von Schli…
Three Tsuru Origami
Three improvisers having fun and taking risks. The classic piano-less jazz trio reinvented by mixing melodies, dirty sounds, noises, extended techniques and references to tradition with a quasi-punk approach.
Existential Moments
The 3rd album from the touring trio of Joe McPhee on trumpet & tenor sax, John Edwards on double bass and Klaus Kugel on drums, following their previous NotTwo releases A Night In Alchemia and Journey To Parazzar, here captured live at FreeJazzSaar 2…
Live at Cafe Oto
CD version. Japanese bluesman Kan Mikami is nothing less than an unalloyed force of nature; a skin-shredding blast of frozen wind from the poor, rural north of Japan that he calls home. In the late 1960s, like thousands of other Japanese young people…
The Worse The Better
CD version. Recording of the stunning first set performed by the trio of Peter Brötzmann, Steve Noble and John Edwards at Cafe OTO in January 2010 during Brotzmann's first residency at the venue. This was also the first time the trio had played toget…
Peck And Fleet
*250 copies limited edition* Limited vinyl release on Raw Tonk Records.
John Edwards : double bass Andrew Lisle : percussion Dirk Serries : acoustic guitar Colin Webster : alto sax Recorded at the Dave Hunt Studio, London on February 8th 2020. Mixed …
Substantial Myths
The most promising vibraphone virtuoso Emilio Gordoa collects an excellent quartet with such fantastic young colleagues Dag Magnus Narvesen and Don Malfon and legendary iconic bass player John Edwards. They presented their music first time at the Art…
Melancholia
“‘Melancholia’ is, perhaps, a somewhat misleading title for the duet of John Edward (double bass) and label boss Dirk Serries (acoustic guitar). One might expect some sad music, a soft thud on the bass, a few strums on the acoustic guitar, but it is …
Lepomis Gibbosus
Fundacja Sluchaj! presents a new recording by Gerard Lebik (tenor sax), John Edwards (doubke bass) and Paul Lovens (Drums), performed live on 23 of April 2015 at Lublin Jazz Festival
"They are sameïliar which means each one resembles the one before a…
Darkened, yet Shone
Live improvising trio of N.O. Moore (electric guitar), John Edwards (double bass) and Eddie Prévost (drums), four pieces recorded at Iklectik, London, on 8 August 2017.
Mopomoso Tour 2013 - Making Rooms
4-disc boxset with 20-page booklet documenting Mopomoso's triumphant UK tour in 2013.
disc 1 – Evan Parker / John Russell / John Edwards – Chasing The Peripanjandra
disc 2 – Pat Thomas – Naqsh
disc 3 – Alison Blunt / Benedict Taylor / David Leahy – K…
Crucial Anatomy
The Last Dream of the Morning is the new band from three UK masters of contemporary improvised music – they released a trio CD under this title on Relativ Pitch (NYC) in 2017, now choosing it for their bandname for continuing activities. Recorded by …
A Night In Alchemia
A Night In Alchemia was recorded by Joe McPhee (trumpet and saxophones), John Edwards (double bass) and Klaus Kugel (drums). The improvisations of this trio always have exceptional sound and are filled with inventive, interesting, innovative and brig…
Seasons Changing
Charles Gayle is a saxophonist, pianist, sometimes a clown and
radical musical performer wrapped into the body of a humble person
living in Downtown Manhattan since the 1960s. As this set attests to, it
is sometimes hard to predict what he will do…
