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Tomeka, wearing a dark blue turtleneck and skirt, smiles warmly while posing with a cello outside during the fall.

Photo by Janet Mami Takayama.

Artists

Tomeka Reid

She // Her // Hers

Cellist, Composer, Bandleader, and Organizer

Chicago, Illinois

Cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community over the last decade. Reid's distinctive melodic sensibility, always rooted in a strong sense of groove, has been featured in many distinguished ensembles over the years. Reid has been a key member of ensembles led by legendary reedists like Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, as well as a younger generation of visionaries including flutist Nicole Mitchell, vocalist Dee Alexander, and drummer Mike Reed. She co-leads the adventurous string trio Hear in Now 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.

Donor -This award was generously supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 09.03.2024

Documentation of <em>Jazz Postcards: Junius Paul and Tomeka Reid</em> thumbnail.

Documentation of Jazz Postcards: Junius Paul and Tomeka Reid, 2020. Hyde Park Jazz Festival. Jackson Park, Chicago.

Video courtesy of the artist.

<em>Old New, Tomeka Reid Quartet </em>, by Tomeka Reid thumbnail.

Old New, Tomeka Reid Quartet , by Tomeka Reid, 2019. Music.

Video courtesy of the artist.