feature photo: Lawrence Miner
Tomeka Reid has long been the go-to cellist for some of jazz’s most creative lights, such as Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Makaya McCraven, Dave Douglas, Nicole Mitchell, Tomas Fujiwara and the late jaimie branch.
As one of the current innovators at the instrument, Reid hasn’t regulated herself to sidewoman work; she formed a talent-ridden quartet with Jason Roebke on bass, Fujiwara on drums, and Mary Halvorson (a fellow MacArthur Fellow) on guitar. Together they made a couple of records with 2019’s Old New landing on some ‘Best of 2019’ lists.
As well-received Old New was, Reid was eager to move on from it for her third Quartet album. Armed with a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Commission, she crafted compositions in a more extended form, taking better advantage of the improvisational and interactive abilities of herself and her bandmates. Boldly stepping outside the nominal boundaries of jazz, 3+3 (Cuneiform Records) presents only three compositions, but they run longer and go farther into jazz’s frontiers.
“Turning Inward / Sometimes You Just Have to Run With It” begins as a ‘1+1,’ i.e., Reid and Roebke squaring off and exchanging quips and as Fujiwara and Halvorson edge their way in and as they eventually become the dominant voices, you hear the composition emerge. On a two-chord pattern, Reid offers up a beauty of a soliloquy, skillfully bringing a classical grace to her improvisation. When the group moves into a swing pattern, she strikes again with a more aggressive tact, equally as engaging.
Going pizzicato, Reid sets the motif of “Sauntering With Mr. Brown,” helped by supple rhythmic backing from Fujiwara. Halvorson follows with a solo that exploits the silence between the notes, which also serves to make her unique tone resonate even more. Speaking of resonance, Reid shows off her electronic effects acumen at the end of her own solo, setting off an enveloping echo that turns her cello into a full orchestra.
“Exploring Outward / Funambulist Fever” starts out as another Reid/Roebke tête-à-tête, but the whole construction of the tune is the main appeal of this performance, a multi-faceted progression that showcases the strength of the quartet interplay and standout individual performances from the likes of Reid, Halvorson, Roebke and finally, Fujiwara.
Emphasizing a loosely structured, open approach, the Tomeka Reid Quartet builds on the success of the prior two outings. If you like Old New, you’ll find even more to like with 3+3.
3+3 is available right now, at Bandcamp.
Tomeka Reid CD’s on Amazon:
3+3
Old New
Tomeka Reid Quartet
Reid/Edwards/Coudoux
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