Jazz vocaliste par excellence Ed Reed held court at Yoshi's Oakland Monday night - that's the where and the when - and I was fortunate to be off work and able to attend his late show. The show kicked off at 10 PM and there was a decent sized crowd in attendance, despite the hour and the fact that it was a Monday night. The occasion was a celebration of the release of Reed's sophomore effort, "The Song Is You" (I love that song, too bad he didn't sing it) and if anyone embodies song, it is Mr. Reed. He brought along a crack band composed of Brian Cooke (piano), Anton Schwartz (reeds), Robb Fisher (bass), Akira Tana (drums, and they had the audience sitting slack-jawed at their tremendous creativity and drive.
But it was Ed Reed who was the glue that held the show together, with amazing reimaginings of classic and obscure American standards like "Daydream," the incredible "This Shouldn't Happen to a Dream" and a powerful "Ask Me Now." He took the Broadway classic, "Where or When," and transformed it into a powerful meditation on memory, loss, age and time.
The power of love weaves its way in and out of Reed's repertoire, and his sometimes silky, sometimes booming voice handles the myriad chord changes and melody shifts with ease and aplomb. It was a pleasure to sit there wrapped up in the moody spell Reed cast with his superb vocal style and on point commitment to the lyric.
I haven't mentioned Ed Reed's age or his oft-related history. While both inform his song selections and his interpretations of them, they are just part of the whole artistry that makes up this world class singer.
Ed Reed - a name to remember. Don't miss him next time he comes around.
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