Eric Reed will perform two shows in Pyatt Hall at the VSO School of Music!
6:00PM (Doors 5:30PM) | 8:00PM (Doors 7:30PM)
Biography
As a piano-playing prodigy, Philadelphia native Eric Reed performed gospel music in his father’s church at age 5. By 7, he began formal study at Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School, and four years later, after his family moved to Los Angeles, he studied at the Richard D. Colburn School of Performing Arts, where he would eventually meet Wynton Marsalis during a workshop. By 18, Reed began subbing in Marsalis’ band, replacing Marcus Roberts in the trumpeter’s renowned septet the following year. Reed then worked briefly as a sideman with Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson before returning to Marsalis’ group, subsequently appearing on 1992’s Citi Movement, 1993’s In This House, On This Morning, 1996’s Jump Start And Jazz, 1997’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Blood On The Fields and 1998’s Standard Time, Vol. 5: The Midnight Blues. Reed also recorded first six albums as a leader during his tenure with Marsalis, including 1993’s It’s All Right To Swing and 1994’s The Swing And I, both titles reflecting the pianist’s urgent desire to fit in with the whole somewhat revisionist agenda of the Young Lions.
Through his formative years with Marsalis, his emergence as a leader on the New York jazz scene and the 30 albums that he made under his own name, Reed kept a secret that plagued him. Now, with the release of Black, Brown & Blue, his heartfelt tribute to jazz masters who came before him, the 52-year-old pianist has decided it was time to talk about it. Reed’s 31st as a leader and fourth for Smoke Sessions marks the first album that he has recorded while being completely open about his bisexuality, resulting in what he calls his most autobiographical release to date. As he stated in label’s press release: “It’s time for me to just go ahead and be completely authentic in every aspect of my life. That includes being more open about my sexuality and proactively moving into spaces connected with the LGBTQ+ community. Those aspects of my life were becoming more bold and more broad, and I could no longer keep them on the margins.”