Eric Reed (musician)

Eric Reed
Eric Reed at the Moers Festival 2015
Background information
Birth name	Eric Scott Reed
Born	(1970-06-21) 21 June 1970
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, post-bop
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Candid Impulse! GRP Nagel-Heyer Savant Maxjazz
Website	www.ericreed.com

Eric Scott Reed (born June 21, 1970) is an American jazz pianist and composer. His group Black Note released several albums in the 1990s.

Biography

Reed was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began playing piano at age two, was playing piano in his minister father's church by age five, and at age seven began formal study at Philadelphia's Settlement Music School. At age 11 his family moved to Los Angeles, and he studied at the R. D. Colburn School of Arts.

In May 1986, at Colburn School, Reed met Wynton Marsalis, an encounter that would greatly aid his career. At age 18, during a year of college at California State University, Northridge, Reed briefly toured with Marsalis. He joined Marsalis's septet a year later, and worked with him from 1990 to 1991 (in 1991–1992 he worked with Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard), and again from 1992 to 1995. He later worked with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for two years (1996–1998), and led his own group in 1999.

Reed has worked with Robert Stewart (saxophonist), Irvin Mayfield, Cassandra Wilson, Mary Stallings, Clark Terry, Dianne Reeves, Elvin Jones, Ron Carter, Paula West and Benny Carter. In 2010 he joined the Christian McBride combo Inside Straight, which produced the album Kinda' Brown.

Reed has also worked as a composer, scoring music for independent and mainstream films, including the comedy Life, featuring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.

Three of his albums have charted on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart: 1995's The Swing and I (peak No. 22); 1998's Pure Imagination (peak No. 8); and 1999's Manhattan Melodies (peak No. 21).

Discography

As leader

• 1990 - Soldier's Hymn (Candid)
• 1993 - It's All Right To Swing (MoJazz)
• 1994 - The Swing And I (MoJazz)
• 1995 - West Coast Jazz Summit (Mons) - with Ralph Moore, Robert Hurst, Jeff Hamilton
• 1996 - Musicale (Impulse!/GRP) - with Nicholas Payton, Wycliffe Gordon, Wessell Anderson, Ron Carter
• 1997 - Pure Imagination (Impulse!/GRP)
• 1999 - Manhattan Melodies (Impulse!/GRP)
• 2000 - Happiness (Nagel-Heyer)
• 2000 - E-Bop (Savant) [rel. 2003]
• 2001 - Mercy And Grace (Nagel-Heyer) [rel. 2003]
• 2001 - WE (Nagel-Heyer) [rel. 2001] - with Wycliffe Gordon
• 2002 - From My Heart (Savant)
• 2003 - Cleopatra's Dream (M&I/Pony Canyon)
• 2003 - Merry Magic (Maxjazz)
• 2004 - Impressive & Romantic: The Great Composers We Love (M&I/Pony Canyon)
• 2005 - Blue Trane (M&I/Pony Canyon)
• 2005 - Here (Maxjazz) [rel. 2006]
• 2006 - Blue Monk (M&I/Pony Canyon)
• 2006 - WE 2 (WJ3) [rel. 2007] - with Wycliffe Gordon
• 2008 - Stand! (WJ3) [rel. 2009]
• 2009 - Plenty Swing, Plenty Soul (Savant) [rel. 2010] - with Cyrus Chestnut
• 2011 - The Dancing Monk (Savant)
• 2011 - Something Beautiful (WJ3)
• 2012 - The Baddest Monk (Savant)
• 2013 - Reflections Of A Grateful Heart (WJ3)
• 2014 - The Adventurous Monk (Savant)
• 2014 - Groovewise (Smoke Sessions)

As sideman

With Wynton Marsalis

• 1992 - Citi Movement (Columbia) 2-CD set
• 1994 - Blood On The Fields (Columbia) [rel. 1995]
• 1994 - Standard Time, Vol. 4: Marsalis Plays Monk (Columbia) [rel. 1999]
• 1999 - Standard Time, Vol. 6: Mr. Jelly Lord (Columbia)
• 1999 - Live At The Village Vanguard (Columbia) [rec. 1990-1994] 7-CD box set

With Robert Stewart

• Judgement (World Stage, 1994; Red, 1997)

With Arkadia Jazz All Stars

• Thank You, Joe! (Our Tribute To Joe Henderson) (Arkadia Jazz, 1999)

With Christian McBride

• Kind Of Brown (Mack Avenue, 2009)

External links

• Official Website
• New York Times review
• Profile at AllAboutJazz.com
• Eric Reed at Allmusic.com