TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has a distinctive sound, both as a player and a writer. Jazz critic Martin Johnson says her instrument is uncommon in jazz, though no longer rare. Reid, who won a MacArthur in 2022, has two new recordings out - one as a side woman to pianist Craig Taborn, also a MacArthur winner, and another with her long-standing quartet. Martin says her music often has a bounce to it as if her cello can exaggerate and accelerate the sound of a walking bass. But the bounce, he says, is only the beginning.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET'S "DANCE! SKIP! HOP!")
MARTIN JOHNSON, BYLINE: Spry isn't a word often associated with the jazz avant-garde, a style more commonly linked with either aggressively loud dissonance or austere meditative music. But Tomeka Reid would like to change that. Her quartet makes music full of movement inspirations, whether modern dance or child's play. The cascading figure there on the title track of her new recording "Dance! Skip! Hop!" feels like sunny afternoon hopscotch. And later in the track, you can hear the magic of the band's arrangements. No one player dominates the others. All four members of the quartet contribute equally to an appealing whole.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET'S "DANCE! SKIP! HOP!")
JOHNSON: Reid first recorded with this band 11 years ago. And the rapport and instrumentation allows them exceptional range. That's 2019 MacArthur scholar Mary Halvorson on guitar, drummer Tomas Fujiwara and bassist Jason Roebke. At times, they sound like a string trio with a perceptive percussionist, and at others, they have an austere intensity of a chamber ensemble, as they illustrated on "A(ways) For CC and CeCe."
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET'S "A(WAYS) FOR CC AND CECE")
JOHNSON: Reid has appeared on several dozen recordings in recent years, but one of the most compelling was released this January. Dream Archives is by the pianist and composer Craig Taborn and it features the cellist and drummer Ches Smith. On this track, "Feeding Maps To The Fire," we can hear Reid's distinctive accents to Taborn's rhythmic keyboard playing.
(SOUNDBITE OF CRAIG TABORN, TOMEKA REID AND CHES SMITH'S "FEEDING MAPS TO THE FIRE")
JOHNSON: Reid grew up in the greater Washington, D.C., area. But her career really took off when she moved to Chicago in the 2000s. She immersed herself in both classical and jazz scenes and found her voice as an improviser. She was inspired by classic works like the bassist Oscar Pettiford's 1960 departure, "My Little Cello," and by contemporary players like Diedre Murray. Now Tomeka Reid belongs to an array of cellists in jazz - such as Akua Dixon, Marika Hughes and Fred Lonberg-Holm - who are expanding the sonic possibilities in the genre.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID QUARTET'S "A(WAYS) FOR CC AND CECE")
MOSLEY: Jazz critic Martin Johnson writes for The Wall Street Journal in DownBeat. He reviewed "Dance! Skip! Hop!" the new album by cellist and composer Tomeka Reid. Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, how can a politician lie to the electorate and not face legal consequences, even a lie as consequential as President Trump's claim that he won the 2020 election? In a new book, Andrew Weissmann explains how we got here and suggests ways to hold politicians accountable. Weissmann was a lead prosecutor in the Mueller investigation. I hope you can join us. To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at @nprfreshair.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID'S "17 WEST")
MOSLEY: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Sam Briger. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi, Anna Bauman and Nico Gonzalez-Wisler. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOMEKA REID'S "17 WEST") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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