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Spotlight OnPutting a needle on the cultural wax. Author: Lawrence Peryer
The people and ideas moving culture forward. With host Lawrence Peryer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Genres: Arts, Books, Music, Music Commentary Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Tomeka Reid: The Low Seat, the Long Haul, and 'dance! skip! hop!'
Episode 301
Sunday, 19 April, 2026
Today, The Tonearm’s needle drops on cellist and composer Tomeka Reid.Tomeka Reid has spent the last decade building one of the most distinctive voices in creative music. The New York Times called her a "New Jazz Power Source." She's a MacArthur Fellow, a founder of the Chicago Jazz String Summit, and a key collaborator with Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, and Craig Taborn, among many others.Her quartet with guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara just released dance! skip! hop! on Out of Your Head Records. It's their fourth album together, and it shows what twelve years of shared language sounds like: tight, playful, and willing to take chances. She also appears on Dream Archives, Craig Taborn's ECM debut with this instrumentation, recorded in New Haven, Connecticut and out earlier this year.We talked about the cello's role in jazz, how family history shapes her work, and what it means to lead a band that's been together long enough to surprise itself.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from The Tomeka Reid Quartet's album dance! skip! hop!)—Dig DeeperArtist and AlbumVisit Tomeka Reid at tomekareid.com and follow her on Instagram and FacebookPurchase The Tomeka Reid Quartet's dance! skip! hop! from Out Of Your Head Records, Bandcamp, or Qobuz, and listen on your streaming platform of choiceOut Of Your Head Records — Tomeka's label for dance! skip! hop!Tomeka Reid — MacArthur Foundation Fellow (2022)Quartet MembersJason Roebke — bass, cassetteMary Halvorson — guitarTomas Fujiwara — drumsRelated Albums and Projects3+3 — Tomeka Reid Quartet (Cuneiform, 2024) — the quartet's previous albumDream Archives — Craig Taborn, Tomeka Reid, Ches Smith (ECM, 2026) — Tomeka's ECM debutHear in Now — co-led trio with Mazz Swift and Silvia BolognesiOrganizations and FestivalsAssociation for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) — the Chicago collective central to Tomeka's artistic developmentChicago Jazz String Summit — Tomeka's annual festival, founded 2013, dedicated to improvising string playersMusical References and InfluencesAbdul Wadud — jazz cellist and major influence on Tomeka's approach to the instrumentStuff Smith — pioneering jazz violinist; referenced in discussion of CJSS repertoireGinger Smock — jazz violinist mentioned in the context of overlooked string player composersDiedre Murray — jazz cellist and composer; referenced alongside Stuff SmithHistorical ReferencesRock Springs massacre (1885) — the violent attack on Chinese miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, which Tomeka mentions in the context of her grandmother's family history in the regionFred Anderson — Chicago jazz saxophonist and founder of the Velvet Lounge, where Tomeka met mentor Clarence JamesThe Velvet Lounge, Chicago — legendary South Side jazz venue where Tomeka came up (verify whether Wikipedia article exists under this exact title)—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn. • Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
