Tomeka Reid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tomeka Reid
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Tomeka Reid performs at the Deutsches Jazzfestival in 2015.
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| Born | 1977 (age 47–48) Washington, D.C., United States |
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| Instruments | Cello |
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Tomeka Reid (born 1977) is an amazing American musician. She is a composer, improviser, and teacher. Her main instrument is the cello. She also helps organize music events. Tomeka Reid is known for her unique style of jazz music. She has won many awards for her work.
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Early Life and Learning Music
Tomeka Reid grew up near Washington, D.C.. She started playing the cello in fourth grade. This was at her elementary school in Silver Spring, Maryland. She loved music class because she could speak English there. She went to a French school but did not speak much French.
She could not afford cello lessons at first. Later, in high school, she got help for low-income students. This allowed her to study at the Levine School of Music in D.C. She also briefly attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
Studying Classical and Jazz Music
After high school, Tomeka studied classical music. She went to the University of Maryland. There, she met a professor named Saïs Kamalidiin. He taught her about jazz and improvisation. Improvisation means making up music as you play.
She also met Nicole Mitchell during a summer in Chicago. Nicole became an important mentor for Tomeka. Tomeka played on many albums with Nicole Mitchell. She earned her first music degree in 2000.
Then, she moved to Chicago. She continued studying classical cello at DePaul University. She earned her master's degree in 2002. After finishing school, she taught music for seven years. She helped direct the string program at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.
Becoming a Jazz Star
Tomeka Reid became very involved in the jazz scene in Chicago. In 2009, she decided to focus more on jazz. She started working towards a special degree in Jazz Studies.
Early Jazz Performances
In 2009, Tomeka played a show with Mike Reed's Loose Assembly. They were joined by the famous musician Roscoe Mitchell. This performance was later released as an album called Empathetic Parts. In 2010, she also became the Treasurer for the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). She played at the Umbria Jazz Festival with the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble.
Focusing on Music Full-Time
In 2011, Tomeka left her teaching job. She wanted to focus completely on her music career. She joined the Tri-Centric Orchestra. They recorded an opera by Anthony Braxton called Trillium E. The next year, she got a special residency at the University of Chicago's Arts Incubator. She also released her first album with her trio, Hear In Now. This group includes Mazz Swift and Silvia Bolognesi.
Starting the Chicago Jazz String Summit
In 2013, Tomeka Reid started the Chicago Jazz String Summit (CJSS). This is a festival that features amazing string musicians. It brings together artists who play avant-garde music. Avant-garde music is new and experimental.
After a short break, the CJSS became an annual event in Chicago. Tomeka continued to organize it even when she moved to New York City. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was held online.
Big Achievements and Awards
The Chicago Tribune named Tomeka Reid "Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz" in 2015. This was a very successful year for her. She released her first album of original songs, Tomeka Reid Quartet. She also released an album called Artifacts with Nicole Mitchell and Mike Reed.
Both albums were highly praised by music critics. DownBeat magazine called Artifacts "one of the most important AACM records in a generation." She performed at many big festivals and venues. These included the Chicago Jazz Festival and the Pritzker Pavilion.
In 2017, she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Studies. She released two more albums that year: Not Living In Fear with Hear In Now, and Signaling with Nick Mazzarella. She was also named a "Chicago Jazz Hero."
In 2018, Tomeka performed her first orchestral composition. She also traveled to Ethiopia to study the masenqo. This is an East African string instrument. She appeared on several other albums that year, including Ithra and Universal Beings.
In 2019, she received a special award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. She also became a visiting professor at Mills College. She won "Miscellaneous Instrument" in DownBeat critics polls in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, she became a United States Artists Fellow.
In 2022, Tomeka Reid received a very important award: a MacArthur Fellowship. This award is given to talented people in many fields. She was also an "Improviser in residence" in Moers, Germany. In 2023-2024, she was a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. There, she developed a large music group called The Tomeka Reid Stringtet.
Discography
Tomeka Reid has released many albums, both as a leader and with other musicians. Here are some of her notable works:
As a Leader
- Hairy Who & the Chicago Imagists (2014)
- Tomeka Reid Quartet (2015)
- Old New (2019)
- 3+3 (2024)
As a Co-Leader
- Artifacts (with Nicole Mitchell and Mike Reed) (2015)
- Shards and Constellations (with Alexander Hawkins) (2020)
- Hear in Now (with Mazz Swift and Silvia Bolognesi) (2012)
- Not Living In Fear (with Mazz Swift and Silvia Bolognesi) (2017)
- Let Our Rejoicing Rise (with Joe McPhee) (2022)
- Geometry of Caves (with Kyoko Kitamura, Taylor Ho Bynum, and Joe Morris) (2018)
- Signaling (with Nick Mazzarella) (2017)
- Ithra (with Dave Rempis and Joshua Abrams) (2018)
Playing with Other Artists
Tomeka Reid has also played on many albums as a sideperson. This means she was part of another artist's band or project. Some of the artists she has worked with include:
- Anthony Braxton
- Jaimie Branch
- Nicole Mitchell
- Mike Reed's Loose Assembly
- Art Ensemble of Chicago
- Joshua Abrams
- Makaya McCraven
- Roscoe Mitchell
