John Edwards performs at the Skaņu Mežs festival in Riga

British double bassist John Edwards performs at the Skaņu mežs festival in Riga, bringing a philosophy of unscripted performance to European free jazz stages, LSM reported. The musician, who has visited the festival four or five times, described the event as his favorite due to its diverse programming and engaged audiences.

John Edwards and the Skaņu mežs Festival Connection

Edwards highlighted the festival’s unique atmosphere, noting that a single evening’s program might feature a string quartet premiere followed by a free jazz trio and a harsh noise DJ set. He emphasized that the audience consists of young people who fill the halls and listen with open ears despite potentially unfamiliar material. In an interview with LSM, Edwards reflected on how free jazz and improvised music performance environments have evolved over the past four decades, shifting away from sparse crowds of older attendees toward vibrant, mixed audiences.

The opportunity not to know how it will be is a luxury.

John Edwards

Live Audiences Shape the Trajectory of Improvised Music

According to Edwards, live audiences fundamentally shape the trajectory of improvised music. He recalled performing at a club in France filled with teenagers studying music who were more focused on each other than the performance, yet contributed a powerful energy to the room. Conversely, he also recounted an experience in which a hostile crowd threw objects at the stage, viewing both extremes as valid and honest reactions to unscripted sound.

Edwards drew parallels to historical accounts from drummer Sunny Murray, who played alongside pianist Cecil Tyler during the dawn of free jazz in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Murray previously shared stories of club owners instructing security guards to eject free jazz musicians onto the street as patrons walked out, occasionally resulting in physical altercations due to the polarizing nature of the music.

Edwards Collaborates with Saxophonist Rob Brown

For his appearance at Skaņu mežs, Edwards was originally scheduled to perform alongside Joe McPhee, who was forced to withdraw due to health reasons. Instead, Edwards will collaborate with saxophonist Rob Brown, an artist he has never met or heard perform live.

Edwards stressed that empathy and the willingness to truly listen are foundational elements of free improvisation. Comparing musical partnerships to long-term relationships, he noted that while decades of collaboration build familiar patterns, maintaining openness in every millisecond keeps the music alive.