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Born To Be Blue (2011)Born To Be Blue, was recorded October 26 and 27, 2010 at The Annex Studios in Menlo Park, CA on Reed's Blue Shorts Records label and produced by Bud Spangler and Ed Reed. "...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... When Ed Reed sings... look for an intimate story every time..." "Given his track record of exponential creative growth over the past four years it might be premature to say that "Born to Be Blue" is Reed's definitive statement, but his third album possesses all the distilled emotion and narrative coherence of a jazz masterpiece." "His vocals are warm, mellow, nuanced and extraordinarily expressive. He gets deep inside a lyric. When Reed sings, he's telling a story." "He makes his mark with spectacular control and a grand sense of phrasing. Reed has a marvelous knack for knowing just how much room a lyric needs to breathe, timing his pace and pauses to build emotional impact." "Stylistically harkens back to the elegant tenderness of Johnny Hartman...richly insightful...intensely moving...hypnotic renderings..." "A unique voice...nuanced and experienced...sings with straight grace and confidence." "[Reed] puts me in mind of Jimmy Rushing, Joe Lee Wilson, Abbey Lincoln - folks who sing (or sang) from the gut, from life experience, doing it with nobility and smarts, while feeling inside a lyric." "...an ageless prodigy...his phrasing is as distinctive as his improvising." |
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The Song Is You (2008)The Song Is You was recorded October 31 and November 1, 2007 at Bennett Studios in Englewood, N.J. on Reed's Blue Shorts Records label and produced by Peck Allmond. "...a shiver-inducing set of standards ... [Reed's] phrasing flows according to the emotional countours of a lyric." "He's got the most rich voice, perfectly in tune. The idea that a man at his age could start a new career and come into his own with such a strong musical personality is so wonderful." |
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![]() "Imagine encountering a glorious creature (probably a bird) that you feared to be extinct, only to find that it not only existed, it was also in its most splendid form. That's how it struck me when I first heard Ed Reed sing." – Bud Spangler, |
Ed Reed Sings Love Stories (2007)Love Stories was recorded in February 2006 at Bay Records in Berkeley, CA on Reed's Blue Shorts Records label and produced by Bud Spangler. The recording features the incomparable talents of multi-instrumentalist and arranger Peck Allmond. Joining Ed and Peck are Gary Fisher on piano, John Wiitala on bass and Eddie Marshall on drums. "He has released a ravishing album at the age of 78…it’s Reed’s coming
out party and he gives the performance of a lifetime." "Reed can tell a story…he sounds utterly believable." "11 exquisite tracks…" "[Reed] shares his love for the music while sending a message about
where we’re headed and where we’ve been." * * * Among the top 10 Bay Area albums of the decade chosen by the East Bay
Express. * * * Most played new release of 2007 on KCSM, the Bay Area’s 24-hour jazz radio station. * * * Among the top 10 Bay Area jazz recordings released in 2007 chosen by jazz critic Andrew Gilbert. * * * Among the top 3 male jazz vocalists of 2007 in Rio de Janeiro’s newspaper Tribuna da imprensa (online) |