Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio + Tomeka Reid Quartet

Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio: Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Tomeka Reid (cello), Patricia Brennan (vibes)

Tomeka Reid Quartet: Tomeka Reid (cello), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Jason Roebke (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums)

7 Poets Trio formed in April 2018 during Tomas Fujiwara’s residency at The Stone. The rapport was instantaneous and the trio’s debut was described by All About Jazz as “a meshing of chamber jazz, modern classical composition, and improvisation, although most of Fujiwara’s music sounded well organized in advance. All three players rose to an individual expression, working as a composite unit to deliver solo embellishments. Roles were malleable, as the listener decided whether everyone was soloing, or no-one. All three members were devoted to establishing a sensitive group consciousness, and they succeeded eminently.” The trio is a continuation of several of Fujiwara’s musical interests – the flexible roles and multifaceted possibilities of a particular instrument, the sounds of multi-percussion ensembles, drawing from his days as a performer in Stomp and his bands Triple Double and Double Double, as well as other double-drummer ensembles he’s been a part of such as Living By Lanterns, No Moto, and the Taylor Ho Bynum 7-tette.

Tomeka Reid has been a key member of ensembles led by legendary reedists like Anthony Braxton (ZIM SEXTET) and Roscoe Mitchell (ROSCOE MITCHELL QUARTET, ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO), as well as a younger generation of visionaries including flutist Nicole Mitchell (BLACK EARTH ENSEMBLE, ARTIFACTS), vocalist Dee Alexander (EVOLUTION ENSEMBLE), and drummer Mike Reed (LOOSE ASSEMBLY, LIVING BY LANTERNS, ARTIFACTS). She co-leads the adventurous string trio HEAR IN NOW, with violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi, and in 2013 launched the first Chicago Jazz String Summit, a semi-annual three-day international festival of cutting edge string players held in Chicago. In the Fall of 2019 Tomeka Reid received a teaching appointment at Mills College as the Darius Milhaud chair in composition. “Cellist Tomeka Reid has been on a serious tear lately; perhaps you noted her on the commanding new album by The Art Ensemble of Chicago, or with the chamberlike Artifacts Trio. Old New is Reid’s second album with [her] rough-and-ready …. If the title calls to mind an Art Ensemble rallying cry, “Ancient to the Future,” that’s probably not a mere coincidence.” – Nate Chinen / WBGO