Eric Reed (musician)
Eric Reed ( born June 21, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Reed is best known for his collaboration with Wynton Marsalis.
Life and work
Eric Reed began at the age of two years to play the piano; at the age of seven he had piano lessons at the Philadelphia Settlement Music School. When he was 11 years old, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he studied music at the Colburn School of Arts. In 1986, he met in this school to Wynton Marsalis, who supported him in his future career. At the age of 16, he played in the band of Gerald Wilson, at age 18, he toured briefly with Marsalis; a year later he was a member of his septet and worked in 1990/91 and 1991/92 with Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard. He also played from 1996 to 1998 with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. In 1990, Reed made his first own band with Dwayne Burno and Gregory Hutchinson, in his game was still very much influenced by Ramsey Lewis and Ahmad Jamal. After that, he recorded several albums for the label MoJazz that are now out of print. Was launched in 1996 with guest musicians such as Nicholas Payton and Ron Carter, his first album for the label Impulse!.
Except with Marsalis Eric Reed worked with musicians such as Cassandra Wilson, Talib Kibwe, Clark Terry, Dianne Reeves, Elvin Jones, Ron Carter, Wycliffe Gordon and Benny Carter, and the Nagel Heyer Allstars.
Reed is also active as a composer and wrote film scores, such as for the comedy Life with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.
Three of his albums reached chart positions for jazz albums in Billboard Magazine: 1995 Album The Swing and I ( position 22 ), 1998 album Pure Imagination ( position 8 ) and 1999 Manhattan Melodies ( position 21).
Recordings (selection)
Albums as a leader
Albums with Wynton Marsalis
Links / sources
- Homepage
- New York Times review
- Eric Reed Portrait in AllAboutJazz.com
- Eric Reed at Allmusic.com