Home » Jazz Articles » New York Beat » Eric Reed at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club

Eric Reed at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club

By Nick Catalano
July 29, 2018
View read count

Hard Bop continues to find a home in NY's Smoke Jazz & Supper Club. For decades the room featured One for All -a group whose stalwart players

Eric Alexander

saxophone, tenor
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Alexander,

Steve Davis

trombone
b.1967

" data-original-title="" title="">Steve Davis,

David Hazeltine

piano
b.1958

" data-original-title="" title="">David Hazeltine,

John Webber

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">John Webber,

Jim Rotondi

trumpet
1962 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Jim Rotondi, and

Joe Farnsworth

drums
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Farnsworth had critics comparing them to

Art Blakey

drums
1919 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. These players often led smaller groups into Smoke with players such as

Harold Mabern

piano
1936 - 2019

" data-original-title="" title="">Harold Mabern and other hard boppers.

Last week (7-22) the club brought in

Eric Reed

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Reed and company whose sets focused on music by hard boppers

Lee Morgan

trumpet
1938 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Lee Morgan,

Booker Little

trumpet
1938 - 1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Booker Little,

McCoy Tyner

piano
1938 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">McCoy Tyner, and

" data-original-title="" title="">Freddie Hubbard. In addition to showcasing popular compositions i.e. Lee Morgan's "The Joker" Reed provided interesting commentary on the masters of the bop literature that began in the late '50s and continues to the present with such groups as the aforementioned One For All.

Reed's well known languorous piano lines were on display in Tyner's "Search For Peace" a tune which he stated had a particularly strategic meaning in the present political climate. Selections such as Hubbard's "For B.P." serviced the long often broken improv horn lines that hard bop pioneered. The work of tenorist

Chris Lewis

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Lewis and trumpeter

Jeremy Pelt

trumpet
b.1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeremy Pelt rendered these memorable stylings with grace and aplomb. Bassist

Reuben Rogers

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Reuben Rogers and drummer

Kendrick Scott

drums
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Kendrick Scott captured the hard bop rhythm textures with impressive authenticity.

Indeed the informal, relaxed atmosphere at Smoke has drawn in patrons whose preference for this older jazz literature has long been satiated there. May it long prosper.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Out of the Blues
< Previous

YAZZ Band
Next >

Eric Reed Concerts

Oct 10 Fri

Eric Reed - Solo Piano

von der Mehden Recital Hall
Storrs, CT

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.