The Jazz Gallery Presents: Tomeka Reid Quartet

Photo by Jasmine Kwong, courtesy of the artist.

This year’s recipient of the Jazz Journalist Association’s String Player of the Year, cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has cultivated a sound by turns gritty and lyrical. She’s a longtime collaborator of Chicago stalwarts like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Nicole Mitchell, and Mike Reed, and has released a series of acclaimed solo records, including Old New with her home base quartet in 2019.

This week, Reid returns to The Jazz Gallery with her quartet—featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara—to perform music from a forthcoming album. In a previous interview with Jazz Speaks, Reid discussed her practice of imbuing her cello with a sense of breath.

The pieces that I write, the compositions, come as a result of me singing the melodies. So I guess it does lend itself to [the voice]. As a string player, you’re trying to get the jazz language into your playing, and it’s like you’re trying to replicate horns, but you’re just not a horn player. There are certain things that are easier on those instruments and certain things that cellos can do, like double stops—those types of things are to play on string instruments. So I try to definitely incorporate all of my training—along with musicians that I’m influenced by—into my playing.

Reid is now based in Oakland, so this New York appearance is an event not to be missed.

The Tomeka Reid Quartet plays The Jazz Gallery on Tuesday, September 27, 2022. The group features Ms. Reid on cello, Mary Halvorson on guitar, Jason Roebke on bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. E.D.T. $20 general admission (FREE for members), $30 reserved cabaret seating ($20 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.