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Sam Reed

Sam Reed was a tenor saxophonist based in Philadelphia.

Working at the Uptown Theater in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he added jazz and rhythm & blues shows to what was at the time an R&B, blues and rock and roll venue. For some years, Reed was also musical director for Teddy Pendergrass, and in the early 1970s, he was the "horn contractor" for Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records.

Bootsie Barnes, Mickey Roker and Jimmy Oliver are among the other Philadelphia-based musicians he has performed with.

In 2012, he received the Jazz Journalists Association's annual Jazz Heroes Award.

Roberto Magris: Ready for Reed

Read "Ready for Reed" reviewed by Edward Blanco

by Edward Blanco
June 9, 2014

Alto saxophonist Sam Reed is legend in the Philadelphia jazz scene who was leader of the 1950s band, Sam Reed and the All-Stars, worked uptown theatre for a while, performed with pop and R&B stars and served as the musical director for Teddy Pendergrass just to mention a few highlights from his long musical resume . On the boppish Ready for Reed, Italian paints of note, Roberto Magris joins forces with the sax man in a a tribute to one ...

Album Review

Roberto Magris: Ready for Reed

Read "Ready for Reed" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 6, 2013

Italian-born Pianist Roberto Magris, never one to let labels stand in the way of tasteful and invigorating music, skates from funk to fusion, blues to bop and even ballads on this prismatic album with guest alto Sam Reed, a longtime trouper on the Philadelphia scene who cut his musical teeth with the likes of trumpeter Ted Curson, pianist Bobby Timmons and the redoubtable Heath brothers (Albert, Percy and especially saxophonist Jimmy). Reed, now well into his seventies, holds his own ...

Album Review

Roberto Magris: Sam Reed Meets Roberto Magris: Ready for Reed

Read "Sam Reed Meets Roberto Magris: Ready for Reed" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
August 31, 2013

Italian pianist Roberto Magris has become the hard bop keeper-of-the- flame with recent J-Mood releases including Mating Call (2010), Morgan Rewind: A Tribute to Lee Morgan Vol. 1 (2012) and One Night in With Hope and More...Vol. 1 (2012), volume designations making clear there is more to come. On Sam Reed Meets Roberto Magris: Ready For Reed, Magris reintroduces Philadelphia saxophonist Sam Reed, who, after a lifetime in music, took some time off but was ultimately rediscovered. ...

Performance / Tour

Saxophonist Sam Reed In Collingswood on Thurday Dec. 6th

Source: Jim Miller
November 13, 2012

Jazz Bridge in Collingswood! presents legendary veteran saxophonist Sam Reed and his group on December 5th at the Collingswood Community Center, 30 Collings Avenue in Collingswood, New Jersey. Tickets are $10, $5 for students, and are available only at the door. Show time is 7:30. It would be enough to ensure the legendary status of saxophonist Sam Reed to say that he did, in fact, play with the celebrated Charlie Parker. Since those early days, Reed has played with dozens ...
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