Tony Smith. Photo. Tomeka Reid, a Chicago-based cellist, composer, and educator has been called “a remarkably versatile player” (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune). Ms. Reid is equally adept in jazz and classical contexts. She composes for both big bands and chamber ensembles and is also proficient in improvisatory and experimental settings. Ms. Reid’s music is a combination of her love for groove and more free-form ideas. Ms. Reid is an integral member of Dee Alexander’s Evolution Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble/Strings and Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly. She also co-leads the internationally acclaimed string trio, Hear in Now. They have performed in Poznan (Poland), Paris, France, Rome, Venice and Milan, Italy, Soazza, Switzerland, and in the USA: New York, Chicago, and Vermont. Ms. Reid is a member of many leading musicians in jazz and creative music today, including George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchel, Jeb Bishop and Myra Melford. She also performs with Fred Lonberg Holm, Mary Halvorson and Denis Fournier. Edward Wilkerson, Harrison Bankhead and Mary Halvorson. Ms. Reid is also the leader of her own trio, which includes Josh Abrams as bassist and guitarist Matt Schneider. She also composes for them. You can hear Ms. Reid on many studio recordings. Ms. Reid is an educator and has taught string improvisation workshops in Italy as well as the US. She was most recently the director of the 2012 Vancouver Jazz FestivalaEUR ™’s High School Jazz Intensive. Ms. Reid was the director of the University of Chicago’s string program for students in grades 5-12 for seven years. Ms. Reid is also a doctoral candidate in ABD at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Ms. Reid is a composer and has been commissioned to compose by the AACM, Chicago Jazz Festival, and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. She has also had many opportunities to present her work at international festivals like Umbria Jazz and An Insolent Noise. Ms. Reid has been nominated for residencies in composition with Ragdale Foundation, and 2nd Annual Make Jazz Fellowship hosted at the 18th Street Arts Organization. Ms. Reid was chosen as a participant in the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. From www.tomekareid.net
