There is not a name yet for what Mike Reed does on drums. Elvin Jones created polyrhythmics; Rashied Ali, multi-directionalism. Reed is delivering something related but distinct. It has as much to do with tonal complexity as with keeping the beat, but the complexity goes beyond that, into a recombination of the many drumming styles of jazz history. “Pan-tonalism" might characterize it, but it doesn't roll off the tongue the way his sticks roll off his heads.
AAJ Contributor Gordon Marshall spoke with Reed recently, about the drummer's recently concluded trilogy with Peoples, Places & Things, Stories and Negotiations (482 Music, 2010), playing with one foot in the past and one in the future, and much more.
Check out Mike Reed: The Drum Thing at AAJ today!
For more information contact All About Jazz.
