Edward Ware

New Zealander Edward Ware has been involved with music and performance all his life, from early childhood piano lessons and choir through the discipline of teenage dance training and competitions, to the rigorous study of drum set and classical percussion which lead him naturally into the life of a professional musician from his early twenties.

Living in New York since 1990 he has worked with a countless array of musicians amassing a wealth of experience in various styles of jazz, improvised, classical and new music from the heavily notated to the completely free.

Well known names include jazz guitarists Ben Monder and Jerome Harris (of Sonny Rollins and Jack DeJohnette fame), avant pop guitarist Marc Ribot (of Elvis Costello fame), bass players Mark Helias and Dominic Duval (of Cecil Taylor fame) as well as free jazz luminaries Matthew Shipp and William Parker along with a host of new music artists such as composer Jerome Kitzke and bass clarinetist Michael Lowenstern.

In the mid '90's Ware was asked by New York’s then leading avant garde jazz venue ‘The Knitting Factory’, to be the drummer for the first ever live internet broadcast from Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival performing with saxophonist Courtney Pine and Miles Davis’ percussionist Mino Cinelu. Another first for Ware was being officially invited as a jazz musician and composer to teach and perform at the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory of Music in China.

He has recorded for many independent labels including Knitting Factory Works, CRI and CIMP. His own independent release in 2001, 'Ed Ware's Tree' received critical acclaim including a four star review in the January 2001 issue of Down Beat magazine, with that trio being engaged for two seasons by Carnegie Hall.

Ware continued to study composition (Masters in Composition from City University of New York 2004), theory and analysis privately and in recent years has turned his creative energies increasingly toward writing. He has written for independent theatre and film projects as well as on commission, for groups such as the Vienna based ‘Bass Instinct’. He currently divides his time between Barcelona and New York where he continues to compose, record, teach and perform.