Rufus Reid, an American jazz musician, educator and composer, was born February 10, 1944 in Atlanta. He resides in Teaneck, New Jersey. Rufus Reid was born in Sacramento, California and played the trumpet throughout junior high school and high school. After graduating from Sacramento High School as a trumpet player, he joined the United States Air Force. He became interested in the bass during that time. Rufus decided that he wanted to become a professional bassist after completing his military duties. Rufus moved to Seattle, Washington where he started serious study with James Harnett, the Seattle Symphony’s principal bassist. He went on to Northwestern University in Evanston (Illinois) where he studied under Warren Benfield and Joseph Guastefeste, principal bassist of the Chicago Symphony. In 1971, he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music degree as a Performance Major on Double Bass. Rufus Reid began his professional career in Chicago, and continues in New York City since 1976. He has been a part of hundreds of the greatest musicians around the world and is most well-known as the bassist Dexter Gordon selected when he returned from his decade-long exile to France. His fellow colleagues are Thad Jones and Nancy Wilson, Eddie Harris, Bob Berg, and Eddie Harris. From Wikipedia
