Mike Reed (musician)

Last updated
Mike Reed
Born (1974-05-26) May 26, 1974 (age 51)
Origin Bielefeld, Germany
Genres Jazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentDrums
Years active1997–present
Labels482 Music, Astral Spirits, Cuneiform
Website Official Website

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

Contents

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]

Reed is the founder of the Sound & Gravity music festival, taking place near the Hungry Brain in Chicago, featuring an international retinue of experimental musicians. [11]

Personal life

Reed is a non-practicing Catholic. [12]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Release yearTitleLabelPersonnel/Notes
2006In the Context of 482 Music Duets with Jeff Parker (guitar), Nicole Mitchell (flute), Jim Baker (piano)
2007 Last Year's Ghost 482 MusicLoose Assembly with Josh Abrams (bass), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Tomeka Reid (cello), Greg Ward (alto saxophone)
2008 Proliferation 482 MusicPeople, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass)
2008 The Speed of Change 482 MusicLoose Assembly with Nicole Mitchell (flute), Josh Abrams (bass), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Tomeka Reid (cello), Greg Ward (alto saxophone)
2009About Us482 MusicPeople, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), David Boykin (tenor saxophone), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Jeff Parker (guitar)
2010Stories and Negotiations482 MusicPeople, 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 MusicLoose Assembly with Josh Abrams (bass), Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Tomeka Reid (cello), Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Roscoe Mitchell (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute)
2011It Only Happened at Night482 MusicMy Silence with Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Nick Butcher (electronics, turntable, guitar, keyboards)
2012Clean on the Corner482 MusicPeople, 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
2013Second Cities Volume 1482 MusicPeople, 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 MusicDuo with Roscoe Mitchell (reeds)
2015A New Kind of Dance482 MusicPeople, Places & Things with Greg Ward (alto saxophone), Tim Haldeman (tenor saxophone), Jason Roebke (bass), Marquis Hill (trumpet), Matthew Shipp (piano)
2015 Artifacts [13] 482 MusicArtifacts with Nicole Mitchell (flute, electronics), Tomeka Reid (cello)
2017Flesh & Bone482 MusicPeople, 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)
2021Sun Beams of Shimmering LightAstral SpiritsDouglas R. Ewart (reeds) and Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet)
2021...and then there's this [14] Astral Spirits Records Artifacts with Nicole Mitchell (flute, electronics), Tomeka Reid (cello)
2024The Separatist Party Astral Spirits, WeJazzBen Lamar Gay (cornet), Cooper Crain (guitar), Dan Quinlivan (synthesizer), Rob Frye (reeds), Marvin Tate (voice)

As sideperson

Release yearLeaderTitleLabel
2010 Jason Adasiewicz Sun Rooms Delmark
2011Jason Adasiewicz Spacer Delmark
2014Jason 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 ElseThrill Jockey
2010 Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra)Stars Have ShapesDelmark
2010 Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra)Matter Anti-Matter RogueArt
2014Jason RoebkeHigh Red CenterDelmark

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. ↑ "Schedule". Sound & Gravity. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  12. ↑ "Flesh & Bone #7: The most segregated hour in America". mikereed-music.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  13. ↑ Attarian, Hrayr (6 November 2015). "Nicole Mitchell/Tomeka Reid/Mike Reed: Artifacts". All About Jazz. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  14. ↑ Meyer, Bill (October 28, 2021). "Artifacts, and then there's this". Chicago Reader.
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