Mike Reed (musician)

Mike Reed
Born (1974-05-26) May 26, 1974 (age 50)
OriginBielefeld, Germany
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentDrums
Years active1997–present
Labels482 Music, Astral Spirits, Cuneiform
WebsiteOfficial Website

Mike Reed (born May 26, 1974) is an American jazz drummer, bandleader, composer and music presenter.

Career

Reed was born in Bielefeld, Germany, in 1974, but raised in Evanston, Illinois north of Chicago.[1] He returned to Chicago in the 1990s after majoring in English and psychology at the University of Dayton in Ohio.[2] He played with David Boykin Expanse, Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, and the Josh Berman Quartet.[1] He leads the quintet Loose Assembly and the quartet People, Places & Things,[1] with whom he recorded several albums on the 482 Music label.[3][4]

In 2000 he and cornetist Josh Berman started the Sunday Transmission music series at the Hungry Brain bar in Chicago in 2000. He helped start Downtown Sound music series, a free weekly concert program in Chicago's Millennium Park that has included indie rock, world music, and contemporary soul. He is a founding director of the Pitchfork Music Festival and joined the committee that programs the annual Chicago Jazz Festival. Since 2013 he has been the founder and director of the Constellation performing arts venue in Chicago, originally as its for-profit (nominally) owner and then, from 2018, as its nonprofit organization president.[5] Then in 2016 he bought and reopened the nearby Hungry Brain bar, which had closed in 2014, continuing to present live music there, as of 2024.[6][7] He is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in Chicago and served as vice-chair between 2009 and 2011.[8]

In 2009 while on their European tour, the four members of Reed's band People, Places, and Things - two of them African-American - were caught in a Neo-Nazi rally in the Czech Republic, putting their lives in danger.[9] The police found the band members and provided them with a safe house and passage to Kraków, Poland.[10]

Personal life

Reed is a non-practicing Catholic.[11]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Release year Title Label Personnel/Notes
2006 In the Context of 482 Music Duets with Jeff Parker (guitar), Nicole Mitchell (flute), Jim Baker (piano)
2007 Last Year's Ghost 482 Music Loose Assembly with Josh Abrams (bass), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Tomeka Reid (cello), Greg Ward (alto saxophone)
2008 Proliferation 482 Music People, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass)
2008 The Speed of Change 482 Music Loose Assembly with Nicole Mitchell (flute), Josh Abrams (bass), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Tomeka Reid (cello), Greg Ward (alto saxophone)
2009 About Us 482 Music People, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), David Boykin (tenor saxophone), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Jeff Parker (guitar)
2010 Stories and Negotiations 482 Music People, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), Art Hoyle (trumpet, flugelhorn), Ira Sullivan (tenor saxophone), Julian Priester, Jeb Bishop (trombone)
2010 Empathetic Parts 482 Music Loose Assembly with Josh Abrams (bass), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Tomeka Reid (cello), Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Roscoe Mitchell (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute)
2011 It Only Happened at Night 482 Music My Silence with Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Nick Butcher (electronics, turntable, guitar, keyboards)
2012 Clean on the Corner 482 Music People, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), Craig Taborn (piano), Josh Berman (cornet)
2012 New Myth/Old Science Cuneiform Living by Lanterns co-led with Reed and Jason Adasiewicz
2013 Second Cities Volume 1 482 Music People, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), Ab Baars (tenor saxophone and clarinet), Eric Boeren (cornet), Joost Buis (trombone), Guus Janssen, Oscar Jan Hoogland (piano), Michael Moore (alto and clarinet), Felicity Provan (trumpet)
2014 In Pursuit of Magic 482 Music Duo with Roscoe Mitchell (reeds)
2015 A New Kind of Dance 482 Music People, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), Marquis Hill (trumpet), Matthew Shipp (piano)
2015 Artifacts[12] 482 Music Artifacts with Nicole Mitchell (flute, electronics), Tomeka Reid (cello)
2017 Flesh & Bone 482 Music People, Places & Things Greg Ward (alto saxophoneophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), Mike Reed (drums) with Ben Lamar Gay (cornet), Jason Stein (clarinet), Marvin Tate (words)
2021 ...and then there's this[13] Astral Spirits Records Artifacts with Nicole Mitchell (flute, electronics), Tomeka Reid (cello)

As sideperson

Release year Leader Title Label
2010 Jason Adasiewicz Sun Rooms Delmark
2011 Jason Adasiewicz Spacer Delmark
2014 Jason Adasiewicz From the Region Delmark
2008 Bill Dixon Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra Thrill Jockey
2007 Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra) We Are All from Somewhere Else Thrill Jockey
2010 Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra) Stars Have Shapes Delmark
2010 Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra) Matter Anti-Matter RogueArt
2014 Jason Roebke High Red Center Delmark

References

  1. ^ a b c Leggett, Steve. "Mike Reed". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. ^ Reich, Howard (November 5, 2010). "Eye of the hurricane for new music in Chicago". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Margasak, Peter (May 2012). "Mike Reed's People, Places, & Things". Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  4. ^ "Mike Reed's Loose Assembly". Constellation. July 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  5. ^ Reed, Mike. "Mission - History". Constellation. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  6. ^ Bianchi, Laura (December 3, 2015). "Pitchfork's Reed reopening the Hungry Brain". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  7. ^ "Pitchfork's Reed reopening the Hungry Brain". Time Out Chicago. August 2, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  8. ^ Reed, Mike. "Mike Reed: Drummer and Composer - About". Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  9. ^ "Mike Reed: Flesh & Bone". All About Jazz. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  10. ^ "482 Music - Mike Reed: Flesh & Bone". www.482music.com. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  11. ^ "Flesh & Bone #7: The most segregated hour in America". mikereed-music.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  12. ^ Attarian, Hrayr (6 November 2015). "Nicole Mitchell/Tomeka Reid/Mike Reed: Artifacts". All About Jazz. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  13. ^ Meyer, Bill (October 28, 2021). "Artifacts, and then there's this". Chicago Reader.