Search - Ed Reed :: Love Stories

Listen to the wonder that is Ed Reed...

Simone F | CA United States | 06/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I fell in love with his music, in a pizza shop (Cheeseboard Pizza!) in Berkeley, California. I didn't know him or his story then, just his voice, and the nights when he was singing were nights of magic I treasured. I have to say immediately that I cannot lay claim to the words that will do his talent justice.



This is an extraordinary debut album for Mr. Reed at age 78, and oh what the world missed all those years before. This is a work that came out of an encounter he had at jazz camp (just a few years ago!) with Peck Allmond, the Brooklyn based multi-instrumentalist, and Bud Spangler, who each heard Ed Reed sing and wanted immediately to hear his CDs. They were stunned to find he had none, and they, along with Ed's wife Diane, decided that had to change.



Ed Reed grew up in Watts and loved to sing always, even sang with Mingus when he was young, but found himself spending many long years in Folsom and San Quentin due to a heroin addiction. He performed in prison with an inmate big band, but he took a long time after the years in prison and addiction to really think of himself as a musician. The songs he learned in prison were learned the hard way - a half hour of jazz allowed a week on the radio - a song heard maybe once every few weeks, words and music laboriously memorized in fragments over periods of months. When he sings those songs though, you can feel the emotion in every moment, and his intonation and phrasing are beautiful.



The music on this album speaks for itself. Be sure to not let his age deceive you, his rich baritone is at its prime. There's a classic ageless elegance here, and you'll hear a version of "A Sleepin Bee" that you won't forget. Thelonious Monk's "Ask Me Now" and "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" both resonate. Ed is an erudite scholar of jazz with a prodigious memory for details and connections, and the songs on this album reflect this. It is a love story of a man applying his master craft to his art.



In person, Ed Reed combines statements of uncanny wisdom with a joyful wit; he keeps saying that this CD release is "like a dream". Well, if so, I hope none of us awaken anytime soon! Currently he works as a health educator for several agencies in the Bay Area. His personal program is called "The Art of Living Well"; may he keep doing so himself so there will be more recordings to come. His performance schedule in the Bay Area is really heating up so look for him in person near you, and Boston - thank your lucky stars - he's heading your way this Fall. He's a grand gentleman, and his voice is a wonder. You won't feel the same after you hear him; buy this now."

Ed Reed, a Treasure

Ruth H. Hand | Not far from Berkeley | 02/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ed Reed's voice and story are a treasure. Once you've heard him sing, his Love Stories stay in your mind because they touch your heart."