Hey Music Mag - Issue 1 - August 2018

UK JAZZ MUSICIAN PETER EDWARDS ON HIS LOVE FOR
THE GREATS AND HOW TO MASTER THE ART OF JAZZ.
WORDS : AASHA BODHANI
Peter Edwards has, by anyone’s standards, a multifaceted craft. From the
tender age of six he began to learn the art of becoming a pianist. Shortly
after he added composer and musical director to his portfolio. Despite the
early start, Edwards was in his late 20s when he made the decision to turn
his musical hobby into a professional career, and it was a risk that has since served
him well.
It would be fair to say that music ran in Edwards’ blood; his parents provided him
and his siblings with endless opportunities to find their own creative flair. But it was
his brother who gave him the inspiration to develop his own style by introducing
him to legendary musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis, jazz pianist Johnny
Parker and composer Herbie Hancock.
“One of my heroes was Herbie Hancock, he was classically trained and an incredible
improviser. I think overall that is what got me into jazz, seeing someone who was a
world-class improviser,” he recalls.
Once he found the sound he aspired to, his mission was to find other artists and
absorb live music, citing that he fell in love with the idea of being able to
create in the moment.
“I thought it was magical the way musicians would generate music, you know, off
the cuff. The curiosity of how they did that is what won me over.” He describes his
style as a hybrid of jazz, mixed with soul, Carribean grooves, Latin tones and gospel.
“These are the sounds that are rhythmically impulsive and
interesting,” he says.
He adds: “I grew up in the 90’s and at a time when acid jazz in the UK was big, but it
also had a mixture of that older stuff from the 60s to newer sounds where jazz was
seen in the likes of Jamiroquai, Incognito and Jason Lyon.”
Edwards isn’t limited to composing, he speaks fondly of working with his band
and working on various commissioned projects. “I like the flexibility of either
performing, directing or writing, they are all different,” he explains.
HEY MAG - AUGUST 2018
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