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Mike Reed's People, Places & Things: About Us
by Troy Collins
Chicago-based drummer Mike Reed's debut of his People, Places & Things Ensemble, Proliferation (482 Music, 2008), was dedicated to the under-recognized people, places, and things from late 1950s Chicago that he found inspiring. About Us continues this concept, eschewing the previous session's focus on under-sung cover tunes in favor of original compositions written by Reed and his band mates, with one tune apiece contributed by three of Chicago's most influential artists.
The line-up once again features the effusive ...
Continue ReadingMike Reed: Proliferaiton & The Speed of Change
by Jeff Stockton
Mike Reed's Peoples, Places & Things Proliferation 482 Music 2008 Mike Reed's Loose Assembly The Speed of Change 482 Music 2008
Ken Vandermark gets a lot of attention for building relationships among jazz musicians in Chicago but drummer and composer Mike Reed is securing his own reputation as an energetic performer, ...
Continue ReadingMike Reed: The Speed of Change & Proliferation
by Troy Collins
Chicago-based composer, bandleader and percussionist Mike Reed is one of the Windy City's most active young musicians and well-connected music presenters. In addition to leading his own ensembles and working with various collectives, Reed is founder of the Emerging Improvisers Organization, director of the Pitchfork Music Festival and a co-curator of the Chicago Jazz Festival.
Released simultaneously, The Speed of Change and Proliferation showcase two very different aspects of his oeuvre. The former is the follow-up to Last ...
Continue ReadingMike Reed's Loose Assembly: Last Year's Ghost
by Jerry D'Souza
Drummer Mike Reed returns with a Last Year's Ghost, this time featuring his band, Loose Assembly. The quintet, in existence for three years, has made a mark on the Chicago jazz scene. This is not surprising knowing what Reed has done and what he is capable of. His recordings, The Treehouse Project (482 Music, 1999) and a series of improvised duets, In The Context Of (482 Music, 2006), testify to Reed's distinctive imagination and innovative styling.
Loose Assembly came together ...
Continue ReadingMike Reed: Last Year's Ghost
by Nic Jones
482 Music was responsible for one of 2006's most iconoclastic releases, in the form of Intents & Purposes by Kyle Bruckmann's Wrack. This debut by drummer/composer Mike Reed and his group is not on the same level in terms of the way in which it fundamentally breaks with a lot of what has already gone down in the past. The fact remains that this is a program of music that's equally uncompromising, albeit in a more unassuming way.
Reed's compositions ...
Continue ReadingMike Reed's Loose Assembly: Last Year's Ghost
by Troy Collins
Drummer Mike Reed's previous album, In the Context Of (482 Music, 2006), showcased his gifts as an improviser in a series of spontaneous duets with his fellow Chicagoans. Last Year's Ghost provides more evidence of his talents, demonstrating his arranging and composing skills as well as his continuing development as a brilliant percussionist on the rise.
The debut recording of Loose Assembly, his three-year-old quintet, incorporates free-wheeling sonic explorations with nuanced harmonic structures. By reconfiguring group improvisations developed ...
Continue ReadingMike Reed: In the Context of
by Paul Olson
Pure improvisation can be a challenge for both musicians and listeners. With no compositional road map, the players must enter into a compact of attention and belief that's largely process-based--after all, no one knows where the music's going to go. If they do, they're not improvising, they're assembling already-played licks on the fly. Then there's the question of the listener. In a public performance, an audience member can be pulled into the musical process, or they can feel they're sitting ...
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