Eric Reed Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family

February 2022 ยท 3 minute read

On two other in-studio trios-Something Beautiful from 2011 and Here, a 2006 session -Reed coalesces his own pieces with repertoire from popular songs, less-traveled jazz classics and gospel, deploying a wide range of moods and dynamics in the manner of a live set. Different in ambiance but equally impromptu is Reed's Reflections Of A Grateful Heart, a contemplative, subdued solo recital of hymns, spirituals and gospel songs from his pen and, among others, Edwin and Walter Hawkins, Richard Smallwood and Billy Taylor. "The older I get, the more I start to see my musical, spiritual and personal influences as all one stream of consciousness," Reed says. "When I was younger, I was exposed to music in my house, my neighborhood or in school; I didn't care about what it was labeled. When I became a professional musician in my teens, the lines between the different styles were drawn in big red marker. Now, I'm not concerned about highlighting and the imposed differences. The musical experiences are all tied together. "Reed developed the core principles of his musical sensibility almost from the time he began to speak. "Before I could even reach the pedals," he recalls, he was playing for and enhancing worship services for the congregants in the small Baptist storefront church in West Philadelphia where his father, a quartet singer, sang and preached. "My earliest experiences in the Holiness church were colored with charisma; people were moved largely by emotion," he says of that functional setting. "Music played a major role in manipulating these emotions, even inciting people to dance. I developed my ear in an extraordinary way; if someone started to sing, I could quickly find their key and begin to accompany them. "Noting their son's exceptional talent, Reed's parents signed him up for private piano lessons at age 5, which continued at South Philly's prestigious Settlement Music School. In the meantime, his aunt and uncle scoured flea markets for records. "They found these records by Horace Silver, Art Blakey and Dave Brubeck. Additionally, in our home, all kinds of music could be heard on the stereo and the radio because my parents and older siblings were into gospel and popular forms of music. " Reed recalls. "I listened to everything. "When Reed was 11, his family migrated to Huntington Park, California, a suburb near Los Angeles with a well-stocked neighborhood library where he continued to self-educate, reading various biographies, theory books and absorbing records. Soon, he enrolled in The Community School of Performing Arts (now The Colburn School), where his mentor Jeff Lavner, introduced him to even more recordings.

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