Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present
Ed Reed and His Trio
Jazz vocalist Ed Reed celebrates his 89th birthday with a collection of tunes made popular by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Turner, Frank Sinatra and many others. Ed has always cherished songs of love and romance, and will feature the tunes he has loved from his earliest memories but never sang in performance. He will be joined by his trio, both swinging and sublime, featuring pianist Adam Shulman, bassist John Wiitala, and drummer Lorca Hart.
$20 General Admission
“Reed has developed a jazz voice that is distinct—full of the pain, sorrow, love and beauty that go along with taking that long, hard trail through life. All of that is on full display here. When Ed Reed sings... look for an intimate story every time.” –DownBeat Editors Pick, July 2011
"[Reed]stylistically harkens back to the elegant tenderness of Johnny Hartman...richly insightful...intensely moving...hypnotic renderings..." –JazzTimes, July/August 2011
“Mr. Reed sings in a dark mahogany baritone with careful diction, evoking the midcentury styles of Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole.” –New York Times, December 2015
Ed Reed, 89 year old jazz recording and performing jazz vocalist and 2014’s #1 Rising Star Male Vocalist (DownBeat magazine Critics Poll), has been singing his entire life, though it was not until 2007 that he recorded and released his first album, just before his 78th birthday. He has since recorded three other critically acclaimed albums and performed in many of the world’s prominent jazz venues, including three sold out nights at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Acclaimed for his ability to interpret the poetry inside a song’s lyric by highlighting emotion, nuance, and irony , Ed has been reviewed in major jazz and news publications, was a guest on the legendary Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz NPR radio program, and was profiled by Nat Hentoff in the Wall Street Journal. edreedsings.com
Adam Shulman has been a staple of the San Francisco jazz scene since he moved to the city in 2002. Before then, Adam was a student at UC Santa Cruz where he studied with pianist Smith Dobson and the trumpeter/arranger Ray Brown. He received his degree in classical performance under the tutelage of Maria Ezerova. Adam can be seen as a sideman with countless Bay Area musicians and vocalists such as John Wiitala, Vince Lateano, Marcus Shelby, Anton Schwartz, Andrew Speight, Erik Jekabson, Ed Reed, Gary Brown, Patrick Wolff, Faye Carrol, Kellye Gray, Ian Cary, and Mike Zilber among many others. Adam has also played as a sideman with internationally renowned artists Stefon Harris, Willie Jones III, Dayna Stevens, Miguel Zenon, Mark Murphy, Alan Harris, Luciana Souza, Paula West, Ratzo Harris, Larry Coryell, Sean Jones, Grant Stewart, John Clayton, Bobby Hutcherson, Bria Skonberg and with the Glen Miller Orchestra. adamshulman.com
John Wiitala is a freelance bassist, active in the Bay Area Jazz scene since the 1980s. He's played and recorded with pianist Jessica Williams' trio, Mark Levine's Latin Tinge, the Bruce Forman Trio, Bill Bell, Wesla Whitfield and Mike Greensill, Ed Reed, Erik Jekabson, Adam Shulman, Patrick Wolff and Randy Porter. He currently teaches at the California Jazz Conservatory and annually at flutist Ali Ryerson's Master Class at Hidden Valley, the Stanford Jazz Workshop and the Theo Bleckman/Laurie Antonioli Vocal Intensive. Wiitala has had the fortune to accompany a few of his musical "heroes" through the years: Joe Henderson, Benny Golson, Mark Murphy, Charlie Rouse, Shorty Rogers, Bud Shank, Bob Dorough, Mose Allison, Charles McPherson, Kenny Barron, Albert Tootie Heath, Pete Jolly, Mike Wofford, Lou Levy, Bobby Hutcherson, Mary Stallings, Joe Locke, John Handy, Noel Jewkes and Calvin Keyes. He counts among his mentors Hal Stein, Flip Nunez, drummers Richie Goldberg and Donald Duck Bailey and pianist Smith Dobson IV.
Lorca Hart grew up in Taos, New Mexico in a musical family where early on it became clear that the drumset was his passion. He attended California Institute of the Arts, studying with Albert “Tootie” Heath, Joe La Barbera, Charlie Haden, Wadada Leo Smith and others. Since then, he has performed with many of the West Coast’s (and beyond) finest artists, including Ralph Moore, Carmen Lundy, Freddie Hubbard, Calvin Keys, Stanley Jordan, Craig Handy, Kyle Eastwood, Herman Riley, Azar Lawrence, Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, John Heard, Danny Grissett, Hugh Masekela, Julian Lage, storyteller/radio personality Joe Frank, actor/musicians Jeff Goldblum and Peter Weller, Ronald Muldrow, and the cross Hart Jazz Experience. He leads his own trio featuring pianist Josh Nelson and bassist Edwin Livingston. Lorca has recorded with Hugh Masekela, John Heard, Justo Almario, Ronald Muldrow, Dave Pike, Phil Ranelin, the Cross Hart Jazz Experience, and the Lorca Hart Trio. Lorca teaches drumset at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California, and ensemble classes at both the Healdsburg High School and Junior High School in Sonoma County, California.lorcahart.com