Jazz cellist Tomeka Reid has a soft-spoken way about her.
Despite the major press and attention that’s lately been coming her
way, Reid is slightly reluctant to talk about herself. Yet she is
a formidable musician and improviser, currently juggling an album
release, a doctoral thesis at DePaul, and an impressive international
lineup of teaching and performing gigs. Combining her classical
upbringing with her affinity for abstract and experimental string
improvisation, Reid has recently finished a yearlong artist residency at
the Washington Park Arts Incubator. Reid took a moment to talk with the
Weekly about her work at the Incubator, her upcoming projects, and her
own style of jazz improv and composition. How long have you lived in Chicago? Since 2000, so almost fourteen years. Actually, it’s crazy. I
remember my mom was actually going to go to art school in Texas and we
took the train all the way from Maryland to Texas and we had a layover
in Chicago. And I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, this place is
amazing!” I wanted to come back here. I visited a friend at Northwestern
my Freshman year of college, and I was like, “As soon as I graduate I’m
moving here.” Can you tell me a bit about your background? I grew up in the D.C. metro area, so I started taking lessons in
public schools. I’m grateful to public schools for having music
programs. And then I went on and took some private lessons and then I
went on to the University of Maryland for my undergrad. I moved to
Chicago and got my master’s at DePaul in music as well. Then I started teaching at the Lab School, actually, for about seven
years. Towards the end of my work there I started a doctorate in music,
in Jazz Studies. Both of my degrees are in classical. I was like, you
know, I’m doing a lot of jazz and creative music. I felt like I should
know more about this world, because I had studied so much classical
music. So that’s why I went back and got that degree. And that’s
actually what I’m trying to finish this semester. So you have a classical training, but now you’ve moved into more jazz. Did you always know you wanted to go into that? I think I’ve always known I wanted to do something besides classical.
It wasn’t so much that I initially wanted to do classical, per se. But
it’s like you play cello so you get pushed in that direction, because
that’s the repertoire for that instrument. But I had a mentor in my last
year of undergrad and he was like, “You should try improvising. There’s
a rock band audition, you should try that.” I was like, “I need to
learn my concertos! I need to learn these sonatas!” I felt like it would take away, but when I moved to Chicago I got
pushed into the jazz thing by a good friend of mine, a flute player,
Nicole Mitchell. She was like, “Come on! Try improvising.” I remember
she wanted me to do all these crazy sounds. And I’m like, “What? I just
spent how many years of my life trying to not make those sounds,
and now you want me to do that in public?” So that was hard. And I was
always actually really shy. So I think it’s funny that I ended up doing
jazz. Because, you know, the whole process of you creating on the spot. It’s more personality-driven. Yeah. Since I was always kind of shy I felt like, “Why am I doing this?” But I liked it. So I just kept doing it. What do you see as the bridge between the classical training that
people who are really serious about music have to go through, and the
jazz world? Do you think there’s a crossover? I think classical players should get exposed to more improvising,
I’ll say that. Because it was a part of our tradition in the Baroque
time. I think in the Classical era even, people were writing their own
cadenzas, so that was still kind of improvising. But I feel like by the
Romantic era the composer, what they wrote, was gospel. So I kind of wish that string programs at the secondary or at the
university level encouraged their players to improvise more. Not
everybody is going to be a classical player and there are other ways
that you can still enjoy playing. And maybe people would play more if
they felt like they could express themselves in other ways, besides just
this select repertoire. It seems as though the Incubator has a kind of place-based
mentality. The things that they do there and what Theaster Gates talks a
lot about is this idea of creating a hub in a specific place in
Chicago. In Washington Park. Is that something that drew you in? I guess I felt drawn to the residency because I live practically down
the street. And I’m really involved in my community, in Bronzeville. I
go to meetings and I’m concerned about what happens in the neighborhood
and stuff like that. The Incubator is in the 3rd Ward, which is my ward.
So I saw this as an opportunity to use my practice to do something in
my community besides just going to meetings and sometimes feeling
powerless against the political engine here. Is that what ended up happening? I think so. I ended up putting on some events there, like the First
Mondays Jazz Series that’s ongoing. It was only supposed to be for four
months, but it’s been going almost a year now. And a lot of people in
the community come and I think people appreciate it. So that’s really
cool. What was the most surprising thing about working at the Incubator
or the Logan Center? Did anything happen that you didn’t expect? Um, not really. I feel like they were really supportive of my work.
It was nice to say, “Oh, I want to put on a festival,” and they just
responded, “Okay, this is going to be a lot of work.” But they supported
it, so that was cool. And I like that they kind of gave us free rein to
do what we wanted to do. Are you working on more composing now? Yeah, well, I’m trying to finish up this paper. But I just recorded
my first record as a leader. So I need to go through that and put that
out. I’m in Italy for the month of March. And then in April I’m really
excited about this Anthony Braxton project I’m going to be participating
in, recording one of his new operas. But what’s cool about it is that
he incorporates new music and improv. It’s fun, it keeps you on your
toes. He’s a composer, he’s a reedist. He’s from Chicago! He’s part of
Access Contemporary Music. In June I’m going to Vancouver to teach in
the Vancouver Jazz Festival. And then July it’s kind of chill, which I’m
happy about. I’m just planning for what’s next, I want to apply for more
residencies so I can do more. I mean I can do work here and it’s nice to
be home. But it’s also nice to get away so you have more of a focus.
Composing is on the top of my list for this year, though. I need to
write more in general. What’s your record that you’ve just finished? It’s a quartet record. Cello, bass, guitar, drums. It’s myself and
Jason Roebke, a really great jazz bass player in Chicago. Mary Halvorson
is on guitar and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. It’s mostly my compositions,
so I’m really excited about it. These pieces on the record, some of them I’ve had for years. Though
some of them I wrote between the two residencies I just did the past
year and a half. What is your composition process like? Usually I use GarageBand and I sing one of the parts. Either the
melody or the bass line will come to me. Because I’m just not quick
enough to sing it and write it and not lose the pitches. And then I’ll
build from there. Do you think there’s much of a relationship between being an improviser and being a composer? [Long pause] I guess it’s hard, because when you’re
improvising you are composing but you’re not able to edit in the same
way. Because once it’s out there, it’s just kind of out there. I guess
you do have different mindsets. You have to have patience in both, but
somehow you have to not beat yourself up when you’re improvising, if you
didn’t like what you just did. You have to be more gentle with
yourself, I guess. Improvising I think can fuel composition. When you’re improvising and
you’re not editing yourself you can come up with little ideas when you
listen back. Does your composing have any sort of narrative component? I feel like when I write separate pieces I always have someone in
mind. Or something in mind. Like I have a song I wrote for my mom. Or I
think about a space or a place. It’s a tribute to someone or someplace. Can you describe an example of that? Well, I mean there’s a handful of us improvising string players. But a
lot of my heroes, I guess, are not among the living. So, for example, I
always wished I could have played with Billy Bang. So when I learned
that he passed I knew that I wanted to write something kind of in
tribute to him, called “Billy Bang’s Bounce.” Whenever I would listen to
his music it would have kind of a sad character, but it was also kind
of bouncy. It was kind of a reminder to myself: if you want to play with
your heroes, contact them! Any other projects on the back burner? Any dream projects? I guess just writing more. Right now I feel really swamped with
school. I think it would be cool though to have an improvising
orchestra. Some sort of string ensemble. And then I think it would be
cool to team up with someone to do something like Curtis Mayfield
recordings, because that sound is what really made me want to play
strings. That type of sound, just a band with strings behind it. I love
that sound. I often wish I was born in that time period and could have
played on some of those sessions.
The cellist-composer on her Chicago jazz family, recent quartet record and more
by David Whiteis
JazzTimes
The cover art of Chicago-based cellist Tomeka Reid’s new release on Thirsty Ear, Tomeka Reid Quartet,
her debut as a leader, portrays a young girl bathed in light,
apparently either dancing or running through a thicket of trees and
undergrowth toward the light’s source. It seems as if she’s found
herself in a land of enchantment whose wonders she can apprehend only if
she forges ahead-serendipity, toughened by determination.
To hear Reid tell it, that’s also pretty much the story of her life in
music. She was born in 1977, grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and
chose the cello in the fourth grade. For a long time, her focus was on
classical music. It wasn’t until her senior year at the University of
Maryland, College Park, that a mentor “encouraged me to do some
improvisations.” Even then, though, “I still was kind of on the fence
about it. I wanted to do it, but I wasn’t committed; I felt that I had a
lot to learn in classical music. I wasn’t sure about it, [but] I kept
doing it.”
Years earlier, she’d visited Chicago with her family and was smitten;
during college, she visited a few more times. “I [eventually] stayed
here for a summer,” she recalls over coffee on Chicago’s South Side.
“That’s when I met [flutist] Nicole [Mitchell] in a symphony. It was
called the Classical Symphony Orchestra. Playing in orchestras, I was
usually the only black person, so it was like, ‘Whaat?’ There were
three! Her, Sam Williams playing violin and Kharma Foucher played the
cello. I wasn’t the only one! I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I want to move
here.’ I think within five days of graduating [in 2000], I took the
Greyhound and moved out here.”
Reid had grown up listening to mainstream popular music as well as
classical, and in college she’d begun to delve into jazz. Nonetheless,
she says, she’d never anticipated anything like the depth and richness
she discovered in Chicago after re-establishing her friendship with
Mitchell, who by then was an ascendant figure in the community of
improvisers centered on the AACM. “It wasn’t intentional,” she asserts.
“It’s kind of like the universe just [said], ‘You need to go in this
direction.’ I didn’t know about the AACM before I moved here. I just
knew I wanted to move to Chicago because I wanted to be around more
black musicians. I was just kind of drawn into it.”
It certainly didn’t take her long to catch up. As a member of Mitchell’s
Black Earth Ensemble, she learned to free her muse and abandon her
inhibitions. (“Just make some sounds!” Mitchell instructed.) She
eventually joined other exploratory and challenging groups: vocalist Dee
Alexander’s Evolution Ensemble, drummer Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly and
Living by Lanterns, and the AACM’s Great Black Music Ensemble, among
others. In 2010, Anthony Braxton enlisted her in his Tri-Centric
Orchestra to record Trillium E, part of his ongoing operatic
cycle, and she worked in Braxton’s Falling River Music nonet in 2014.
Today, she fronts her own Chicago-based unit and co-leads the
cello/violin/double-bass trio Hear in Now. With Mitchell and drummer
Mike Reed, she released the acclaimed Artifacts last year on the
482 Music label. As a composer, she has garnered commissions from the
AACM, the Chicago Jazz Festival and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble.
Reflecting her musical trajectory, the new CD came together as a result
of disparate elements that congealed at the appropriate time. “Some of
these compositions,” she notes, “were written two and a half, maybe
three years ago. [All except one, Eric Dolphy’s “17 West,” are Reid
originals.] It’s something I’ve talked about with female leaders I’ve
worked with. Every time, [they’ve said,] ‘You should get yourself out
there. You write good music.'”
Produced by Mike Reed, the disc features Reid with guitarist Mary
Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. Even on arco
passages, Reid achieves a timbral intensity and rhythmic thrust of the
kind usually associated with electrified jazz fusion. She and Roebke
interweave, tossing solos and accompaniments back and forth, alternating
lower- and higher-register pizzicato runs and bowed lines. Halvorson,
like Fujiwara, summons emotional fervor through understatement rather
than declamation; her leads and comping simmer with unforced brio. The
musical and emotional spectrum is luminous, not unlike that mystical
light illuminating the landscape for the journeying girl on the cover.
“I was drawing upon all the influences I’ve been exposed to here,” Reid
affirms. “I really like free playing, but I still love melodic things. I
didn’t want to shy away from anything.” She emphasizes that the
electronic-like edginess spiking her sound is intentional-she’s
determined to challenge the stereotype of the cello as a “mellow”
instrument. “It sounds beautiful, but the cello can also do so many
other things-even though I still feel, when I listen back, like, ‘Ahh!
There’s a lot of mellowness in there!’ So I’m trying to go even more
away from that. That’s one of the beauties of playing a string
instrument: You can bend, you can slide, you can get these glass
qualities, you can get all these different qualities that I still don’t
feel I’ve fully explored. I’m still uncovering.” https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/arts/music/tomeka-reid-a-new-jazz-power-source.html?_r=0
Tomeka Reid will be taking her quartet to Roulette.Credit
Tony Smith
The cellist Tomeka Reid,
from Chicago, has been one of the great energies of the past year in
jazz: a melodic improviser with a natural, flowing sense of song and an
experimenter who can create heat and grit with the texture of sound.
She
appeared on two exceptional records in 2015: “Artifacts” (482 Music),
made with the flutist Nicole Mitchell and the drummer Mike Reed, an
album of well-chosen repertory reflecting 50 years of Chicago’s
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians; and her own first
album as a leader, “Tomeka Reid Quartet” (Thirsty Ear), with a group
including the guitarist Mary Halvorson, the bassist Jason Roebke and the
drummer Tomas Fujiwara. That’s the band — in its first New York
performance — playing on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. at Roulette in
Brooklyn. (roulette.org.)
A version of this article appears in print on January 3, 2016, on Page AR4 of the New York edition with the headline: Pop; New Source of Jazz Power. Order Reprints|Today's Paper
Originally
from the greater Washington DC area, Chicago-based AACM member Tomeka
Reid has honed her improvisational skills for the past decade and a half
as a sideperson to such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, George Lewis and
Roscoe Mitchell, as well as contemporaries like Dee Alexander, Nicole
Mitchell and Mike Reed. She also co-leads Hear in Now, a string trio
with New York-based violinist Mazz Swift and Italian bassist Silvia
Bolognesi. Reid is poised to become one of the preeminent improvising
cellists of her generation with the eponymous release ofTomeka Reid Quartet, her first album as a bandleader. Adding to this auspicious occasion isArtifacts,
a collaborative all-star recording with fellow AACM members Nicole
Mitchell and Mike Reed celebrating the Association’s 50th anniversary.
Initially
conceived for her working trio with guitarist Matt Schneider and
bassist Josh Abrams, the quartet featured on Reid’s self-titled debut
features both Chicago and New York-based musicians, as suggested by
Reed, who served as the session’s producer. Reed proposed guitarist Mary
Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, whom the cellist had played with
in Living By Lanterns, one of Reed’s recent collaborative projects
combining musicians from the two cities. Reid sought out Chicago bassist
Jason Roebke, completing the roster. The ensuing date showcases Reid’s
improvisational mettle, memorable writing and keen arrangements, in
addition to her magnanimous leadership abilities.
An impressive combination of ebullient swing and elegant deportment,Tomeka Reid Quartetis
a phenomenal record. Reid and Halvorson’s contrapuntal soloing on a
cover of Eric Dolphy’s angular “17 West” generates palpable excitement
right from the start, while the folksy phrasing of “Billy Bang’s Bounce”
recalls the inexorable joie de vivre of the late violinist’s own work.
Though classically trained, Reid isn’t afraid to groove, as demonstrated
by the slinky “Woodlawn,” with its serpentine contours and understated
vibe. The entire session regales with a palpable sense of shared
discovery; whether the foursome are engaged in the roiling post-bop of
“Super Nova” or the melancholy deconstructed lyricism of “The Lone
Wait,” their collective chemistry is remarkable.
Artifactsis
an equally spirited endeavor whose roots lie in a concert conceived by
Reid in early 2015. Composed of nine covers all written by AACM members,
ranging from founders like Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams to
more recent colleagues like Jeff Parker and Ed Wilkerson, the varied
collection spans the Association’s visionary legacy, encapsulating the
entirety of its stylistic approach, from Braxton’s thorny “Composition
23B” and Abram’s equally knotty “Munkt Munk,” to Steve McCall’s lyrical
“I’ll Be Right Here Waiting” and Wilkerson’s celebratory “Light On The
Path.”
Coordinated with the release of these compelling albums, I interviewed Tomeka Reid in the autumn of 2015.
****
Troy Collins:You’ve
become a ubiquitous presence in the Windy City jazz scene since moving
to Chicago in 2000, but some earlier biographical information might be
of interest to readers unfamiliar with your background. Where are you
from originally?
Tomeka Reid:I
was born in DC and raised in Maryland. My mother grew up in southeast
Washington and chose to raise my sister and I in Maryland where we’d
have a shot at better public schools.
I
was always drawn to music. My mom was a big Soul Train and Solid Gold
watcher and I remember watching those shows with her and wishing I could
sing and dance. I actually asked for a piano (and a brother) for
Christmas every year. I didn’t get either but I think I nagged so much
that I did get a mini Casio keyboard that I cherished for years. It only
played one note at a time which was a little frustrating but I composed
a bunch of songs on it ... didn’t really know that’s what I was doing
at the time but somehow I even thought to write them down.
Unfortunately, I didn’t actually know how to write music so the little
bits and pieces of sheet music that I have left are full of numbers and
dashes, indicating the scale degrees but not the rhythms.
In
fourth grade my mom put me in a French immersion school where detention
was the punishment for speaking English. I knew not a lick of French, I
mean nothing. All the other students had started in kindergarten or
were from Francophone countries so I was pretty much pulled out of class
all the time, like an ESL student, to do some crazy catch up. Luckily,
instrumental music was introduced that same year. A girl I had
befriended on my school bus and I chose the cello based on the fact that
all the girls were picking the flute and violin and we thought of
ourselves as “tomboys.” I also thought, being new to the school, that
maybe by playing this big instrument, kids would pick on me less. That
kind of back-fired but I grew to really enjoy music class because my
teacher was really awesome and ... we could speak English there! Being
new to the school and not knowing French, made making friends a
challenge. My self-confidence was also shot because I was put in the
lowest of everything because of the language barrier. We took all of our
subjects in French. So, I became less outgoing and super shy. As I was
already drawn to music, music class was a huge comfort to me because it
was a new activity for everyone and I didn’t have to feel like I was so
behind, as I did every day in my regular class. My orchestra teacher
noted my enthusiasm and got me a scholarship to take private Suzuki
lessons but my mom was not one for parental involvement of that kind so
that didn’t last long.
I
didn’t take lessons again until I could afford them on my own in 10th
grade. I attended the Levine School of Music in Georgetown and studied
with Oliver Edel. I was fortunate enough to be a part of their PAL
program that provided a substantial tuition reduction for low income
students. I remember telling Mr. Edel that I wanted to study cello in
college and he kind of laughed at me. Apparently he thought I was a lot
younger than I was even though at that point I was a junior in high
school. He did his best to prepare me and had me audition at the
University of Maryland, College Park where his girlfriend, Evelyn Elsing
was the cello professor. Thankfully she took me because I was once
again super behind for an incoming freshman.
Attending
Maryland was great but also traumatic. Traumatic because I felt like I
was in 4th grade all over again. The cellists in my studio were mostly
graduate students from conservatories like Manhattan, Juilliard and even
Curtis, with super fancy cellos and there I was ... barely able to
vibrate in 4th position and still borrowing a plywood cello from my high
school. I had some major catching up to do! Ms. Elsing was extremely
generous and went through all of the cellos used in the music education
string classes and picked out the best one which she let me use
throughout my time there. She actually gave me the cello to use in grad
school and I played on that instrument until it met its demise just last
year over the course of two flights. Going to Maryland was also great
because I was surrounded by so many great cellists. Mr. Edel hardly
played in my lessons during high school so I still didn’t have the sound
of the cello in my ear. The work ethic of the cellists at Maryland was
inspiring and most were encouraging to me.
Towards
the end of my time at Maryland, I had a mentor who encouraged me to try
improvising. He would drag me into a practice room and hand me lead
sheets with symbols that I did not understand! But we kept at it and
would play some cafe gigs here and there. I would say he was the first
to really push me into improvising.
I
made two visits to Chicago during my undergraduate year, one of which I
stayed a summer and auditioned for a local orchestra that rehearsed
downtown called the Classical Symphony where I met some other black
musicians. That was something new for me because I always felt like the
only one. That experience really cemented my desire to move to Chicago. I
became really good friends with the flute player of that group, Nicole
Mitchell, and once I finally moved to Chicago in 2000, she would ask me
to join her band.
TC:Who was the mentor that first encouraged you to improvise?
TR:His
name is Dr. Sais Kamalidiin. He was the “super tough” theory teacher at
the Duke Ellington School of the Arts where I attended for a semester
before the school found out that I actually lived in Maryland, which
meant I’d have to pay $3,000 which we couldn’t afford, so they kicked me
out. I tried to convince my grandma to let me use her address so that I
could stay, but she said that it would be a lie and that the Lord would
not approve! Ha! So I ended up finishing high school at Bethesda
Chevy-Chase HS. I would run into Sais throughout high school as he
worked at an amazing record and bookstore called Olsson’s when I would
be in Georgetown hanging out before and after my lessons at Levine.
When
I went to Maryland he was finishing up his doctoral degree and so we
kind of reconnected. I was always a little afraid of him because he was
“the super tough theory teacher from high school” and I was still this
kind of weird, shy, nervous kid (it’s so funny to think about now) and
still felt bad about having to leave the school. Anyway, whenever he
would see me in the halls he would always mention someone’s ad about
needing a cellist for a rock band or some other ensemble outside of my
classes and that I should try. At that time I was not so open because I
was really feeling the heat of being so behind in classical cello
repertoire. I didn’t see how I would have time to fit in anything extra.
I studied abroad in Salzburg the summer after I stayed in Chicago (and
met Nicole) and when I came back I saw him again and for some reason, I
think between living in Chicago and going away, the experiences opened
me up a bit. I would now run into him all the time on the school shuttle
as he also drove for them while he was finishing up his studies. This
time he asked me specifically to play with him. We would meet in Tawes
Hall practice rooms and he’d have some Rufus Reid bass lines and I would
play them while he soloed. We did this a lot and he actually became
more than my mentor. He learned a lot about my family life and kind of
took me in and became a father to me. His wife even made my senior
recital graduation dress. Whenever I’d come home from Chicago for the
holidays or just to visit, I would stay with him and his family. I still
go home and visit with him. He has treated me like a daughter and still
does. Whenever I refer to my dad, it’s him that I mean.
TC:Were you aware of any other improvising cellists when you decided to become a musician?
TR:No,
I was still very much thinking about the classical route. I had
interned at a place called Strathmore Hall in Rockville, MD and got a
chance to meet the Turtle Island String Quartet and remember thinking
that that would be cool to play some other styles. A friend of mine also
gave me a cassette of an all-women’s cello quartet ensemble called just
“Cello” I think and I remember really loving that. But again, I was
still learning cello and had this strict idea that I couldn’t do any
other kinds of music until I could play sonatas and concertos and stuff
like that. I remember a bass player at Maryland lending me what I think
was Eric Dolphy’sOut Thereon
CD, but I wasn’t ready and I couldn’t understand what the cello player
was doing! Ha! And now “17 West” is the first track on my record!
I
definitely became more aware of other improvising cellists once I moved
to Chicago. I started seeking out recordings. I really fell in love
with Abdul Wadud’s playing even though I still didn’t quite understand
it. I had an Uptown String Quartet recording and I was introduced to
some Deidre Murray/Fred Hopkins recordings by a great friend, CC James.
TC:How
did you arrive at your particular sound? Were there any influential
teachers, mentors or musicians that inspired your current direction?
TR:Well,
it’s funny because coming to Chicago and the scene I fell into, it was
all about finding your own voice. Nobody I was hanging with was really
down with playing standards, in fact if you quoted something like a lick
or pattern in your solo they would literally musically bomb you and
squawk all over your solo! It was very much find your own sound, do your
own thing. I think it was good, but sometimes it would make you freeze
up, because sometimes you wish you had those licks or patterns or
something to hold on to at least to get you started, you know? And for
me, I didn’t grow up listening to jazz or in church so I didn’t have
things to reference really. We listened to soul music up until about 2nd
grade and then there was this drastic switch to what was called
progressive or alternative rock. I was that weird kid who loved Elvis
Costello and the Cure in elementary school. We hardly listened to any
music by black artists except the rare black rock artist like Living
Colour or Tracy Chapman. The closest thing to jazz in our house was
maybe some Sade recordings. So, I didn’t have a lot to pull from in that
way. I started listening to jazz more on my own in college because of
friends and my mentor. I remember hearingColtrane plays the Bluesand
Stuff Smith in college and being totally blown away, but again, I was
thinking “I need to get this classical stuff together,” so much that I
didn’t try to figure what he was doing.
One
suggestion my mentor gave me was to transcribe some Oscar Pettiford
solos on cello. From there I discovered Doug Watkins and Sam Jones and
Calo Scott. Wadud’s style was hard to transcribe even though I have
recently transcribed a couple things off of his solo record,By Myself.
I
really love the mixture of out and in playing. I am always striving
toward getting better at both. But I love mixing the textural sounds
over changes and going back and forth. It’s more fun and interesting to
me.
TC:In
addition to memberships in numerous bands (Dee Alexander’s Evolution
Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble, Mike Reed’s Loose
Assembly, et al.) you lead a number of unique groups yourself, besides
the new quartet: a trio with guitarist Matt Schneider and bassist Josh
Abrams; and co-leading the string trio Hear in Now, with violinist Mazz
Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi. What advantages and challenges do
you find in contributing to so many different groups?
TR:Well
the quartet is actually an expansion of the trio with Matt and Josh.
Initially I was working off of the idea of the New York String Ensemble
and that’s how I came up with the idea for the instrumentation. I’m a
big Billy Bang fan! I wanted to add drums though.
The
biggest challenge was finding time to play in all of them. It just
seemed that all of these groups (the led, co-led and sideman groups)
started to gain some traction around the same time and I used to work
full-time as a teacher. Now that I have quit that, it makes it a little
easier but the planning is still hard. I think a great advantage is that
I get to play and learn from so many great people. Each one of the
groups kind of calls on me to have a slightly different role so it keeps
me musically on my toes ... I’m never bored! Being a part of so many
things I have to really be conscious about setting aside time to write
new music. That can be a challenge time-wise – for me at least. I still
haven’t totally gotten the knack of writing on the road. I still like
going into a practice room and hanging out all day singing and recording
ideas and banging them out on the piano or plucking them out on my
cello.
TC:How did Hear in Now come about?
TR:An
Italian promoter by the name of Lalo Lafoco brought the three of us
together for a one-off concert at a women’s jazz festival in
Salsomaggiore-Terme, Italy. We flew in the day of, played the show and
Mazz and I stayed up all night listening to the performance and really
liked the result. The concert was on my birthday, so besides feeling
like it was the best birthday present ever I felt like it was fate in a
way. We all felt a chemistry between us and decided to keep the group
going, albeit without any further assistance from Lalo. We pitched in
and helped Silvia get a ticket to New York that following January and
recorded many of the tracks that were on our debut record. It’s been a
challenge keeping the group together mostly because of logistics, each
of us living in different places but somehow we’ve made it work! We will
enter our 6th year as a group this December 5th.
TC:How
do you approach writing for each of your ensembles? Do you typically
write parts specifically geared towards your band mates’ strengths, or
do you embrace a more egalitarian approach, where the tunes themselves
are more open to interpretation by different groups of players?
TR:I
suppose I do a little bit of both. Much of the repertoire was written
already for the quartet album before I enlisted Mary, Tomas and Jason.
Usually I am inspired by a person, such as Billy Bang or my mother, for
example, or maybe a place that leads me to write a composition. I know
definitely moving forward with this quartet I will write more with their
strengths in mind.
For
Hear in Now it’s pretty much the same, as we had to play a concert of
music before we even knew each other. Now I would say that I definitely
think about their individual styles when I write.
TC:How do personal and stylistic dynamics shape the inner workings of your various groups?
TR:I
think personal and stylistic dynamics definitely shape the inner
workings of the groups I work with. I feel like we’re usually all on the
same page musically or what we individually do compliments everyone
else, so it’s like a love connection, usually! In my quartet for
example, I like that there is a musical connection between Mary and
Tomas and then between me and Jason and how we are able to join those
two scenes together. I think there is an appreciation for playing out
and in, everybody is just really open so it works. In Hear in Now we
each come from our own different scenes: Mazz coming out of a lot of
folk and rock music; Silvia being from Italy, heavily influenced by
American jazz yet retaining her aria-like sensibilities; and myself
coming from Chicago. I feel like we share a lot of similarities but our
differences make for a really varied sonic experience.
TC:Let’s talk aboutTomeka Reid Quartet,
your leadership debut on Thirsty Ear. One can hear a real sense of joy
in these performances (the album reminds me of early Black Saint and
Soul Note recordings made by fellow AACM members). Something cornetist
Kirk Knuffke said when I interviewed him recently seems apt here. He
said:
“I
often question whether some people I hear even like their own music.
Love is the most important thing, loving the music. And I’m interested
in the aspects of playing that I love from the entire history and the
sound in my head ... I don’t think about moderation, moderation is
boring. I think about elation and different kinds of it.”
I
hear that elation in your work as well. Similarly, most of the projects
you’re involved in feature both pre-written material and spontaneous
improvisations. What are your thoughts regarding “pure” free
improvisation compared to more traditional theme and variations-based
strategies?
TR:I
love both. I’m finding that I’m loving to perform purely free these
days. That used to be such a source of anxiety for me ... to be so naked
and create something from nothing in front of people and sometimes with
people I’ve never improvised with! Used to totally make me feel
uncomfortable, but now I really dig that experience because of the way
it forces me to listen and explore my role as a cellist in that
particular situation: Do I solo? Do I become a member of the rhythm
section? What can I do to make something happen? Sometimes it comes out
great and sometimes it’s so-so, but either way you learn something from
it and I am definitely a lifetime learner. I like being pushed and even
though I am sometimes stubborn, I like to be forced out of my comfort
zone.
I
also enjoy through-composed settings and pieces with structure that
include improvisation. It’s nice to know where you’re going sometimes
but it’s also really nice to know that if you end up somewhere else
that’s ok too!
TC:You
mentioned that you are usually inspired by a person (or place) to write
a composition, such as “Billy Bang’s Bounce,” from your self-titled
debut, for example. “Woodlawn,” from the same session, possesses an
incredibly sinuous groove; what was the inspiration behind that
particular piece?
TR:That
is actually an “older” composition that I performed at my very first
gig as a leader at Fred Anderson’s Velvet lounge. I wanted to write a
blues for the set as a nod to Chicago, home of the blues, since I felt
that that is where I really grew up as a person and a musician. Woodlawn
is a neighborhood just south of Hyde Park and is kind of a slept on
part of town, to me anyway ... well a lot of the south side is, but
that’s a whole other story. It’s got some gritty parts but also it’s
really nice. So I just wanted to show it some love. It’s also where I
bought my first place.
TC:In
a similar vein, “Glass Light” is incredibly evocative; its lyrical
melody unfolds at a glacial pace that lends it a virtually film-noir
ambience. What was the motivation for that number?
TR:That piece was originally written for the soundtrack toThe Hairy Who,
a film about the Chicago Imagists. I really liked the piece and thought
about doing it with the quartet. The original version is me laying
cello parts accompanied by drummer Adam Vida. It was an interesting
process writing for the film. The production company just gave me words
to write music for. I never actually saw the film until it was
completed. In this case the word was “moody”. I just retitled it to
“Glass Light.”
TC:Well
it certainly is moody, but even more significantly, it has a memorable
melody, which isn’t an essential component for atmospheric soundtrack
music – or free improvisation, for that matter. Your approach on the
other hand is very lyrical and engaging, seemingly less concerned with
odd intervals and unusual time signatures than maintaining a strong
melodic line, which is somewhat rare these days. Can you address how you
balance basic foundations like melody, harmony and rhythm with more
abstract concerns, such as texture, tone and timbre in your compositions
and improvisations?
TR:I
don’t think that I am actively trying to balance these ideas, I just
really like the meshing of variances in texture/tone/timbre along with
melodic ideas. I think the two areas can co-exist and that it provides,
for me anyway, more interest. But I’m not thinking “OK I don’t want this
to be too out for too long, or too in.” I like to just write out some
ideas or a tune and if during the playing it goes into some other spaces
that are more abstract then cool, if not, that’s cool too. The option
is there. Definitely, with the people that I play with, I feel
comfortable allowing the music to go where it does.
TC:The
instrumentation of your quartet parallels cellist Diedre Murray and
bassist Fred Hopkins group with drummer Newman Barker and either Brandon
Ross or Marvin Sewell on guitars, which releasedProphecy(About Time, 1991) andStringology(Black
Saint, 1994). You mentioned being familiar with those recordings, but I
wonder if that band inspired the configuration of your current quartet?
TR:I
am familiar with them, but as I mentioned, my group initially started
as a trio and I was thinking more about the String Trio of New York. I
wanted bass for sure and then I wanted a harmonic instrument. I like the
idea of all strings so I chose guitar over piano. I decided to add
drums so I guess that would make it closer to their group, but I wasn’t
really thinking of that initially.
TC:I’m under the impression thatArtifacts(482
Music) was initiated by you, primarily. The collection spans the AACM’s
entire history, from Roscoe Mitchell’s pre-Art Ensemble “Jo Jar” to
Jeff Parker’s “Days Fly By With Ruby,” which is based on Fred Anderson’s
“Bernice.” I assume this was a conscious decision to address the AACM’s
ongoing vitality? Can you give a little background on the project?
TR:Steven
Peters of Good Shepard Chapel reached out to me about coming Seattle,
Washington to perform. He shared with me a further backstory about him
being in conversation with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and Fred mentioned
my name amongst others of the current generation of players trying to
keep the music alive and so that’s when Peters reached out to me.
There
was a thought for having my quartet, but I think there was a budget
issue, so then I thought why don’t I do a sort of shout out to the AACM?
It’s the organization’s 50th anniversary this year and many of the
events they were scheduling I was not going to be able to take part in
because of my own schedule, so I thought about trying to do my own
celebrating by including AACM-themed programs on a few of the gigs I had
this year. I thought about Nicole Mitchell and Mike Reed because as
much as we have done within and outside of the organization, we hadn’t
played together as a trio before and I love the both of them very much.
They’ve been in my corner from the beginning and so it just felt like it
could be good. Both of them were excited about the idea. For a student
performance I was doing in Vancouver and in Chicago, I thought to
arrange some AACM compositions to expose the students to the legacy of
the AACM and Mike thought that maybe we should do that within this trio.
Everyone liked that idea as well so we each chose songs we liked. I
guess word got out about the band and we started getting asked to play
festivals before we even really played any gigs yet, so we decided to
record the tunes as well. We’ve played about seven gigs already and will
do one more performance this year in Poland. We definitely want to keep
the group going but will probably also include some of our own
compositions for the next record.
TC:The arrangements featured onArtifactsare
also unique, since almost none of the tunes that were selected had been
performed (or at least recorded) before by this particular instrumental
configuration. Were there any challenges in getting these tunes across
the way you wanted using the instrumentation you had available?
TR:Not
really. I feel really lucky to perform with such open, flexible and
creative individuals. I’m basically playing the bass role in the
ensemble which I really like doing. I would say a tune like “B.K.” is
close to the original instrumentation. But I like that it’s different.
It gives a fresh take on these great works and maybe it might inspire
others to listen further or to think outside of the box regarding
instrumentation. I know that Nicole is really excited to incorporate
some of her electronics into the group.
TC:In addition to Nicole Mitchell’s use of electronics onArtifacts,
you mentioned Fred Lonberg-Holm earlier, who is well-known for
augmenting his cello with a wide variety of efx. Have you ever used or
considered using efx with your instrument?
TR:I
actually have. I’ve bought pedals throughout the years but have yet to
incorporate them with any regularity into my performing style. I have
one of those cool Line 6’s that I’ve used on occasion and I recently
bought this pretty awesome loop station, but I still haven’t really
gotten down with it. I actually really like the idea of making sounds
acoustically that simulate what an effect could do. I’ve been really
into using some preparations as of late like pencils and clips. They
offer a really cool sound that’s super percussive so I really love that.
I’d like to explore more though.
TC:How do you feel about studio recording compared to live performance and how does that affect your playing in each situation?
TR:I
definitely enjoy live performance more. I’ve done it more often so I
feel more comfortable there. This year however, I made a point to record
in some capacity monthly. It was a good exercise because it’s nice to
have this documentation and my level of comfort there has grown.
Actually,
for my quartet record we initially recorded in February 2014 before the
group had its first gig. The takes were good and the gig went great. As
a result, we got asked to play the Chicago Jazz Fest later that year
and played another gig that same night in Milwaukee at the Woodland
Pattern. I set up another session date for the very next day. We went in
and then played the whole set from start to finish. The energy was
really great and those takes are actually what made the record. I think
we just knew the repertoire more and having just rehearsed and played a
bunch before I definitely felt more comfortable. I think I will do the
same thing next time. It felt more live that way.
TC:What
are your thoughts on the state of the recording industry at large,
especially in regards to archival copies (CDs, vinyl) versus more
ephemeral formats (downloads, streaming)?
TR:Hmm
... it seems like the older generation still enjoys buying CDs, getting
them signed and reading the liner notes. I feel like people still buy
them at shows. I don’t personally subscribe to any streaming services
because I feel like it’s kind of a bad deal for musicians but I know
that by having those services available people can have more access and
learn about players they may not have been aware of before. I personally
like having a vinyl record or CD in my hand, I like books too. But that
could be because that’s what I grew up on. I like having the thing in
my hand.
TC:Are there any artists you derive inspiration from, or that you currently enjoying listening to?
TR:Definitely my string heroes: Billy Bang, Abdul Wadud, Stuff Smith, Muneer Fennell, Calo Scott.
I’ve
been running around quite a bit lately and haven’t been able to check
out too much new stuff. I would say I’m still really digging Oliver
Lake’s recent organ quartet album! So great! I kind of get stuck on
something for a while and that’s definitely one of them. I’m also a big
fan of AACM composers such as Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Henry
Threadgill, Nicole Mitchell ... I definitely see more live music than
I’ve been listening to records these days.
TC:What projects do you have planned for the future?
TR:I
am about to start raising money to put on the second edition of the
Chicago Jazz String Summit in 2016. The first one we did was really fun
and well attended. I hope that it can be something that could happen
annually.
I’m
really excited about a duo recording I made back in April with a really
great Chicago saxophone player, Nick Mazzarella and I’m hoping that can
get released next year.
The
quartet will be doing a string of shows in January and March and some
other things that I am working to solidify for later in the year. I’m
also planning to record new compositions with the group. I’m hoping to
release a live string recording of a performance from the Hyde Park Jazz
Festival of a commission that I was asked to compose in dedication to
the residents of Dorchester, a block in south Chicago. So there’s quite a
bit! There has been such great energy as of late. I’m really excited to
see where it all goes. I want to keep growing, writing, playing,
practicing and seeing where this journey takes me.
As an accomplished composer and improviser, cellist Tomeka Reid, is an
integral part of Chicago's creative music scene. In addition to being an
educator, Reid is a versatile and tireless performer both in her
hometown and beyond. Moreover her unique style graces the works of such
luminaries as flutist Nicole Mitchell, multireed player Anthony Braxton as well as her own collaborative trio albums. The tense and thrilling Tomeka Reid Quartet is her first release as a leader.
The,
mostly original, pieces bubble with a fiery intensity and a deep-seated
lyricism. Despite their intriguingly complex texture there is ample
room for individual expression. Reid crafts the captivating "Billy
Bang's Bounce" from a heady mixture of boppish themes and languid, West
African inspired motifs. Innovative powerhouse, guitarist Mary Halvorson,
weaves an angular and enthralling improvisation around Reid's expectant
reverberations. Reid's own furious solo brims with intelligence and
flirts passionately with atonality. The stormy group play gracefully
returns to the lilting head.
Driving this exciting music is drummer Tomas Fujiwara.
His polyrhythmic flourishes are not only limited to the up-tempo
percussive tunes such as "Samo Swing" but also the somber "Glass Light."
Fujiwara's militaristic beats roar along bassist Jason Roebke's
pulsating thuds and thumps. The duo creates a cinematic backdrop to
Reid's undulating, melancholic phrases and Halvorson's wistfully
sparkling strings. Reid and Halvorson's dialogue grows unfettered and
delightfully dissonant. Roebke's crisp, clear bass lines and Fujiwara's
percussive clusters contrast provocatively with Reid's wailing cello and
Halvorson's urgently ringing guitar.
The quartet members also
have superb camaraderie with one another. On the Latin tinged "Etoile"
Reid and Halvorson engage in an eloquent conversation that percolates
with intense emotion and inventive ideas. Roebke's bittersweet tones,
during his time in the spotlight, reflect Reid's mellifluous and
nostalgic melody. Fujiwara's rolling drums add a delectably dark
undercurrent to the collective sound.
Reid's debut is a
stimulating and mesmerizing work that showcases the superlative
cellist's artistry at its best. Her exquisite instrumental prowess as
well as her brilliant writing make this a singular record. This splendid
and elegant freshman is just a glimpse of Reid's outstanding career.
Track Listing: 17 West; Etoile; Billy Bang's Bounce; Improv #1; Glass Light; Woodlawn; Super Nova;
The Lone Wait; Samo Swing; Improv #2. Personnel: Tomeka Reid: cello; Mary Halvorson: guitar; Jason Roebke: bass; Tomas Fujiwara: drums.
Title: Tomeka Reid Quartet
| Year Released: 2015
| Record Label: Thirsty Ear Recordings
Cellist Tomeka Reid was headed toward a career as a classical
musician, but was drawn to jazz. Critic Kevin Whitehead says her band's
new album, The Tomeka Reid Quartet, has good chemistry all around.
TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Chicago cellist Tomeka Reid was headed toward a
career as a classical musician when she got drawn into playing jazz and
improvised music. But she still loves the intimacy of chamber
ensembles. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Tomeka Reid's new
Chicago-New York quartet is tightly synchronized. (SOUNDBITE OF ERIC DOLPHY SONG, "17 WEST" PERFORMED BY TOMEKA REID QUARTET) KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Cellist Tomeka Reid on "17 West" by Eric
Dolphy, which he recorded in 1960 with Ron Carter on cello. I have to
laugh when some publicist, journalist or even cellist maintains playing
jazz on cello as some bold new idea. There have been literally dozens of
improvising cello players since the 1950s. Tomeka Reid embraces that
tradition, the better to build on it. The lineup on her new album,
"Tomeka Reid Quartet," which mixes cello and guitar, draws a connection
to Chico Hamilton's chamber jazz quintet from the '50s. But Reid's
foursome gets more low-down. (SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET SONG) WHITEHEAD: Chicago's Tomeka Reid on cello with New York's Mary
Halvorson on guitar. There have been string players in jazz from the
beginning, with cello becoming almost common after the '70s. And Tomeka
Reid likes to honor her string heroes. "Billy Bang's Bounce" catches the
flavor of that late violinist's sweetly woody sound. Bassist Jason
Roebke gets them started with a chunky, early Sun Ra Chicago beat. (SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET SONG, "BILL BANG'S BOUNCE") WHITEHEAD: Ace guitarist Mary Halvorson plays in a lot of bands,
including some very good ones. But Tomeka Reid's quartet fits her
especially well. Halvorson starts out with a spiky, old-fashioned jazz
guitar tone, then cuts it with spider-walking lines and electronic
squiggles. Here, she swings a little more overtly than elsewhere. But
Halvorson's not one to play it safe. The drummer is a frequent
collaborator from back east, Tomas Fujiwara. (SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET SONG) WHITEHEAD: Mary Halvorson on guitar. Cellist Tomeka Reid writes
atmospheric pieces too. But her heavy groove numbers really put the
players in the mood to play. Reid gives them plenty of room, sometimes
more than she gives herself. She's more exposed on her other new album,
called "Artifacts," for a co-op trio with flutist Nicole Mitchell and
drummer Mike Reed playing music by fellow Chicagoans. But in Reid's own
quartet, she's apt to bow or pluck cello within the ensemble, the better
to blend with guitar and bass. The strings bind together nicely, and
the drums give them a propulsive kick. There's good chemistry all
around. (SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET SONG) GROSS: Kevin Whitehead writes for Point of Departure and is the
author of "Why Jazz?" He reviewed the new recording by the Tomeka Reid
Quartet on the Thirsty Ear label. Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, I'll talk with
Justin Theroux, who stars in the HBO series "The Leftovers," about the
people who remain on Earth after 2 percent of the world's population
mysteriously vanishes in a split second. Is it the rapture, an act of
God? Are the people on Earth spared or condemned? Season two is
underway. Theroux co-wrote the comedy "Tropic Thunder" with Ben Stiller
and wrote the screenplay for the forthcoming "Zoolander" sequel. I hope
you'll join us.
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The cello, a jazz instrument? In the hands of this talented musician, absolutely.
by Matt Pollock
August 10, 2015 Chicago Magazine
Photo: Jeff Sciortino
Tomeka Reid slides into a shadowy wood-paneled booth at Rodan.
It’s clear that the Wicker Park gastropub isn’t how she remembers it.
The stick-thin Woodlawn resident plunks down her cello, frowns at the
Asian fusion menu, and gives the stink eye to a DJ booth that sits where
Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker once led a rotating jazz trio every
Tuesday. “Man, it used to be funky over here,” says Reid. “Now it’s like
Wrigleyville.” At 37, Reid has spent the bulk of her adult life avoiding the hollow
glitz of places like the redone Rodan, preferring bohemian watering
holes such as Constellation in Roscoe Village and the Arts Incubator in
Hyde Park, where she regularly flexes her avant-garde-jazz muscles
digging into textured melodies that evoke equal parts intellect and
elegance. In a genre littered with drummers and horn players, a cellist is a
rarity. Reid, who, like her playing, is whip smart, has spent the last
15 years performing with such stalwarts as drummer Mike Reed and singer
Dee Alexander, helping lead the jazz string trio Hear in Now, and
dabbling in hip-hop, appearing on Late Night with Conan O’Brien with the rapper Common in 2006. This month, Reid takes center stage in the role of bandleader with the release of Tomeka Reid Quartet,
her first album of original compositions. As if that weren’t enough, in
September she’ll defend her dissertation on jazz articulation in cello
at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and embark on a tour
with her quartet across the country. “It’s a tornado right now, and it
doesn’t slow down until December,” she says. “I feel bad—I’m not gonna
see my boyfriend for two months.” Reid is no stranger to the itinerant life. Raised by her single
mother, a visual artist, mostly in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Reid
learned to weather constant change. (“We moved a lot.”) The experience
left her massively shy, an anomaly given her career choice: “I still
think it’s funny that I play improvised music, where people watch you
think.” Growing up, she says, “I had the worst stage fright imaginable.” One constant, though, was the cello. Reid latched onto the instrument
in the fourth grade and rode it all the way to a scholarship at the
University of Maryland, where she earned her bachelor’s on a borrowed
cello; she was the rare student who arrived with no instrument.
Classically trained, she didn’t consider jazz professionally until
flutist and former Chicagoan Nicole Mitchell tapped her to join her
group, Black Earth Ensemble. “She could express a real level of emotion
when encouraged to do free improv,” recalls Mitchell. “Some people think
of it as random notes. For her, it was an outlet.” The experience was eye opening, if slightly jarring, for Reid:
“Nicole was like, ‘Just make some sounds!’ And I was like, ‘You want me
to make these squeaky sounds I’ve been struggling not to make since
college?’ ” Still, Reid welcomed jazz as her new musical home.
Reid at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2013 Photo: John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune
Jazz became her cultural home, too—the kind she’d lacked as a kid. “I
lived in all-white neighborhoods and went to all-white schools and was
always the only black girl in every orchestra I’d been in,” says Reid.
“That Nicole was a black musician was comforting to me. Growing up, I
never knew other black people that played instruments.” Within three years, Reid was gigging in multiple bands—including one
that played at Rodan in 2003—and working full-time as orchestra director
at the University of Chicago’s Laboratory Schools. In 2011, Reid left the U. of C. job to pursue jazz full-time. On
paper, the decision was suicide: “The way I grew up, nothing was stable,
so for me to leave was crazy.” But it freed up time and energy that
eventually led to Quartet, a spiraling album that doubles as a
sonic diary of Reid’s recent personal life. Written over seven years,
the music is a mix of chilling melodies and improvisational jaunts about
such varied topics as Reid’s mother (“Etoile”), heroes (“Billy Bang’s
Bounce”), and dating as a female musician (“The Lone Wait”). When asked what’s next, Reid, unlike her playing, is concise: “Brown
people of the world are under attack, and as a black female jazz
cellist, it’s really important that I express my voice,” she says. “I
have to do this—I have to do this now.” GO Reid performs on August 27 at 8:30 p.m. at Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave. $10. constellation-chicago.com
September 15, 2010 by Howard Reich | Arts critic Chicago Tribune
Chicago has a knack for producing distinctive voices in jazz, and one of the most promising belongs to cellist Tomeka Reid.
A remarkably versatile player, Reid last year conducted the Great Black
Music Ensemble at Millennium Park in a serenely expressive homage to
saxophonist Fred Anderson. Earlier this month, she led the new Hear in
Now Trio at the Chicago Jazz Festival in luminous scores that merged
jazz, classical and experimental techniques.
And on Tuesday night, Reid fronted a trio that illuminated yet another
facet of her art – mainstream jazz improvisation (albeit tinged with a
touch of the avant-garde).
The setting was the Museum of
Contemporary Art, where the Tuesdays on the Terrace series features top
Chicago jazz musicians in one of the city's most congenial outdoor
spaces. Though Reid's trio was under-amplified for a dining-listening
environment, if you leaned in a bit you couldn't miss the lyric beauty
of this work.
Because Reid directs a great deal of her musical
energies toward the Association for the Advancement of Creative
Musicians (AACM) – a collective of artists who prize innovation –
listeners rarely get to hear the cellist playing jazz standards (or
anything like them). So when she and the trio began to perform Duke
Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," Reid watchers knew they were in for
something different.
Yet the same long, luxuriant phrases that
Reid often lavishes on music of the South Side avant-garde emerged to
seductive effect in a jazz classic. Better still, Reid wasted no time
reinventing the famous theme, embellishing it, substituting key notes,
crafting alternate melody lines. For those who naively contend that
experimental players cannot address the fundamentals of the art form,
Reid, bassist Josh Abrams and guitarist Matt Schneider put such nonsense
to rest.
The entire first set of the evening, in fact, suggested
not just the trio's deep familiarity with swing and bebop idioms but an
obvious affection for these jazz languages, as well.
Even so,
Reid and friends subtly pushed at the constraints of 20th Century jazz
conventions, performing a few compositions built on the hypnotic riffs
that drive many AACM endeavors. The volume level may have been low and
the phrasing genteel, but glints of dissonance and moments of rhythmic
imbalance made themselves heard.
As bandleader, Reid happens to
be a demure presence, declining to assert herself away from her cello.
But as her profile continues to rise, she'll need to learn to address
her audience in words, not just music.
A few spoken phrases would help listeners understand that they're witnessing the emergence of a potentially major figure.
The Tuesdays on the Terrace series continues with cornetist Josh Berman, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; free; 312-280-2660 or mcachicago.org.
The seventh episode of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with cellist Tomeka Reid.
She’s been on the avant-garde/free jazz scene since 2002, but has
really begun to make her mark in the last few years. She’s got
long-standing artistic relationships with flautist Nicole Mitchell, drummer Mike Reed, saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton, and the AACM. She leads her own quartet with guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Ajemian and drummer Tomas Fujiwara; is a member of the string trio Hear In Now with violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi; and recorded a duo album, Signaling, with saxophonist Nick Mazzarella in 2017. She also performed on trumpeter Jaimie Branch‘s Fly Or Die, two Nicole Mitchell albums, and Hear In Now‘s Not Living In Fear, and became a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
In our interview, Reid discusses her creative relationships, her recent
recordings, and much more. It’s a really interesting conversation I’ve
been wanting to have for quite a while—she was one of the first artists I
approached about appearing on the podcast—and I hope you’ll enjoy it. Stream or download the podcast below.
Tomeka Reid on Giving Strings the Spotlight in Jazz
The cellist hosts the Chicago Jazz String Summit this weekend.
by Jamison Pfeifer
May 10, 2017
Chicago Magazine
Photo: Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune
Up next in our series of interviews with notable, in-the-know locals: Tomeka Reid, who hosts the third annual Chicago Jazz String Summit May 12 and 13 at Elastic Arts and Constellation Chicago.
What’s the impetus behind the Chicago Jazz String Summit?
It’s a small jazz festival that’s highlighting orchestral
strings—violins, violas, and cellos. These instruments are not often
thought of in the context of jazz. Just being around the jazz scene, you
would see a saxophone summit and a trumpet summit. What about a string
summit? I wanted to have an event that put strings at the forefront.
There are only two criteria: Each group performing has to be led by
an improvising string player, and they have to perform original music. I
wanted to bring in some improvisation traditions over the course of a
couple of days and show what’s possible.
Who are some of the performers?
Opening the festival is Hank Roberts, a really great cello player. I
don’t know if he’s actually played in Chicago before. He’s doing a duo
with Jacob Sacks. Also on Friday, there’s Mary Oliver, an amazing violin
player. She’s American, but has spent most of her career in the
Netherlands playing with the Instant Composers Pool. Mark Feldman, who’s
part of the downtown scene in New York, is also playing a duo with
Chicago-based drummer Tim Daisy. Feldman played in John Zorn’s group,
the Masada String Trio. He’s a very active and innovative violin player.
On Saturday’s show, we have Eyvind Kang. Besides being an amazing
improvising viola player, he was a mentee of Michael White. This year’s
String Summit is a tribute to White, who was a really creative violin
player in the ’70s. Then there’s Helen Gillet, who’s doing a solo set.
She’s from New Orleans and she does a lot of different stuff, like
singing and playing at once. The last performance on Saturday is a group
that I co-lead, called Hear in Now, with Mazz Swift and Silvia
Bolognesi. We have a record coming June 2 called Not Living in Fear.
How did you pick the lineup?
Mostly these are people that I’ve looked up to in my own journey to
becoming an improvising cellist. It’s not like there’s a large array of
recordings in that tradition. There’s not a ton of improvising cellists
out there. That’s why I created this summit. People don’t know Billy
Bang or Mary Oliver—they’re just not super familiar.
Why is that?
People still have this idea of what a jazz group is or even what jazz
is—people think of bebop. For me, jazz is music where improvisation is
at the core. In highlighting these super innovative, creative players,
hopefully it will encourage more string players to improvise. During the
classical era, string improvisation fell by the wayside. You would just
play your Dvorak or whatever it was. This festival is also about
creating community and getting more string players to come and create
groups of their own. Maybe string players will be inspired to improvise
again.
By Tom Burris
Simply seeing the names of the musicians in this band made me do a
double-take. Drummer Tomas Fujiwara, bassist Jason Roebke, guitarist
Mary Halvorson are all in cellist Tomeka Reid's quartet?!? The various
styles of these players coming together into one NYC-meets-Chicago
supergroup works so well on paper it promises to be an absolute dream.
But you know how supergroups turn out... Well screw your cynicism – and
mine – because the debut recording from the Tomeka Reid Quartet is an
absolute gem. Seriously, I have to pull back a little when writing
about it or I'll be ending every other sentence with five exclamation
points. Nobody wants to read that shit.
So what's so great about it? I'm going to list several reasons & try to contain myself.
Like the music of Thelonious Monk, this music brings pure
unadulterated joy into the world and makes the drudgery and gray
awfulness of Midwestern life bearable. Thirty seconds into Dolphy's “17
West,” - the only non-Reid penned tune here - Reid and Halvorson are
dueling, teasing, prodding.. “This is what you came to hear, right?”
The clash is frenetic and joyously furious, setting the tone for
everything to come. Even sullen, somber tracks like “Super Nova” sound
like happy songs to me. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it's got
something to do with an acceptance of all of life, given the ideal
balance of every nuance and note. Reid's vision is broad and
all-encompassing. Every new sound is intuitively balanced by the
introduction of its polar opposite. It is idealistic and inclusive. Who
wouldn't want to inhabit this world?
Mary Halvorson is the perfect foil for Reid; and never once does she
steal the show. Mary's a rock star if jazz ever had one – ironically
because she's the consummate team player. When she plays underneath
Tomeka's gorgeous autumnal melody on “Etiole,” she combines the harmonic
beauty of Jim Hall with precise rhythmic drops Keith Richards would
envy. Subtle, original, and absolutely on point. Halvorson duels with
Reid often, but it's playful and loose and elliptical. Sometimes, as on
“Woodlawn,” the solos don't sound predetermined at all. They're simply
part of a normal spontaneous conversation where two people start
interrupting each other excitedly, then pull back and listen – or wait
to talk, whichever option is more urgent at any particular time.
Endlessly fascinating.
Reid's compositions get stuck in your head – in the best way. The
melodies are durable and smart. The sounds and influences are diverse
as well, running from French cafe jazz to blues to a couple of pieces
that sound a little like the otherworldly soundtracks Popol Vuh used to
make for Herzog films. (Reid is no stranger to film music. She wrote
and recorded a soundtrack to the 2014 documentary “Harry Who & The
Chicago Imagists”.)
Roebke and Fujiwara are a rock solid rhythm section who are also
sensitive players. It's the balance thing again. It's the key to
everything – and it starts here. If these two guys couldn't walk that
line, none of this would work. They're kind of the unsung heroes of
this disc, but that just proves how well they perform their jobs. Very
rarely do these guys drop metered time, but when they do it's still
perfectly balanced between pulse-time and impulse-time, and between
themselves and the other two players.
This was my pick for Album of the Year in 2015. It is the best debut
album from a jazz quartet I've heard in a long, long time. It is
seriously making winter bearable. Highest recommendation.
MEET THE PERFORMERS: VISITING ARTISTS
Tomeka Reid
Recently described as a “New Jazz Power Source”
by the New York Times, Chicago cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has
emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in
the Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community over the
last decade. Her distinctive melodic sensibility, usually braided to a
strong sense of groove, has been featured in many distinguished
ensembles over the years. Reid has been a key member of ensembles led by
legendary reedists like Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, as well as
a younger generation of visionaries including flutist Nicole Mitchell,
singer Dee Alexander, and drummer Mike Reed. She is also a coleader of
the adventurous string trio called Hear in Now, with violinist Mazz
Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi. Recently Reid released her debut
recording as a bandleader, with the eponymous recording by the Tomeka
Reid Quartet, a lively yet charged debut album that is a vibrant
showcase not only for the cellist’s improvisational acumen, but also her
knack for dynamic arrangements and her compositional ability. Reid,
grew up outside of Washington D.C., but her musical career largely
kicked into gear after moving to Chicago in 2000 to attend DePaul
University for graduate school. Her work with Nicole Mitchell and
various Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians related
groups have proved influential to the young musician. By focusing on
developing her craft primarily as a side person and working in countless
improvisational contexts, Reid has achieved a stunning musical
maturity.
It’s with Hear In Now that you’re most drawn into Tomeka Reid’s
unguarded expression. It’s heavy with consideration, as if Tomeka is
processing intimate answers to questions she asked herself years ago.
The cello can be a moving instrument. It can communicate vulnerability
and gentleness, but Tomeka uses it like both a shield and a weapon;
deflecting artistic expectations, firing bows directly to the heart and
mind with piercing consideration.
Hear In Now find themselves in an intricate ven-diagram between Jazz, classical, folk and the avant-garde. Whilst Tomeka is based in Chicago, Hear In Now double bassist Silvia Bolognesi is based in Siena, Italy, and singing violinist Mazz Swift resides in NYC. As a threesome,
the group’s individual members have gathered a number of interesting
collaborations, performances and recordings with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Nicole Mitchell, Common, Jay-Z and Kanye West. Hear In Now released their critically-acclaimed second studio album, Not Living In Fear, via genre-fluid label International Anthem earlier this year.
Some
artists seem to have the enviable skill of warping time; think of
Shabaka Hutchings, Christian Scott, Anderson .Paak. With multiple
simultaneous projects, it can feel like they have the superhuman power
of dropping creative genius at the drop of a fedora. Add to that list
Tomeka Reid. As well as co-leading her Internationally-renowned trio
Hear In Now for the last decade, she’s a member of the Association for
the Advancement of Creative Musicians—the iconic organisation celebrating “great black music”. She’s part of Dee
Alexander’s Evolution Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth
Ensemble/Strings, Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly, and has played with the
iconic Art Ensemble Of Chicago. “I moved to Chicago in 2000 to pursue a degree in classical cello”, says Tomeka, who grew up in Washington D.C. “Two
years prior to that I met a great flute player by the name of Nicole
Mitchell so when I moved I reconnected with her immediately and she had
me in several of her projects. It was through this that I came to be a
part of the Chicago music scene and got more interested in the Jazz
culture there”. Tomeka reflects on the city; “What’s
great about the Chicago scene is that it champions and supports
creativity, you don’t have to worry about fitting into a box. You really
have the space to explore what ever direction that you want and there
are many spaces to present those findings”. As with any artistic
movement, community is at the epicentre. Of Chicago’s, Tomeka describes
it as one of mutual gains, with “most people being eager to be on other
people’s projects, workshopping each other’s music”. One
collective that Tomeka performs with is the avant-garde improvising
group Art Ensemble Of Chicago. It was founded by saxophonist Roscoe
Mitchell who is nothing short of a virtuosic living legend. Tickets for
their shows sell-out quickly, with fans going night after night, knowing
that each performance will be completely fresh. “How is what you’re
going to play going to impact the music or push the music along?”, is a
question she asks herself, when playing with the group. “It’s really
awesome performing and working with Roscoe as he is such a titan in the
music. Space and listening are two ideas that he really emphasises.”
With Hear In Now living thousands of miles apart from each other, space and listening is clearly something Tomeka carries into the creative process with her trio: “Living
in different locales has presented some challenges but honestly, I
think we get to perform quite a bit together”. Looking to the future,
Hear In Now are “hoping to find a moment to record with Roscoe”. Before
this year is out though, Hear In Now will be performing in London
together as part of CHICAGOXLONDON. They’ll be supporting Chicago
beat-scientist Makaya McCraven who is collaborating live with London artists (all TBA), Ashley Henry, who presents his brand new RE:Ensemble and DJ Lexus Blondin.
THE MUSIC OF TOMEKA REID: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH TOMEKA REID:
By Tom Burris
