Ravinia 2024 Issue 1

co-founded and directed the jazz studies and performance program at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, for 20 years. “I’m sure the first year or two was a test to see how well it would go,” Reid said. “It went really well, and it continues to do so each and every year.” For the first couple of years, the pro- gram invited 23 fellows to take part, and that number was pared back to a more manageable 15. “That’s a good number. It gives us three bands of five people,” the bassist said. The participants, who do not apply but are invited to take part, are typ- ically young musicians at the end of their schooling and the beginning their professional careers. “They already have a voice,” Reid said. “It’s just raw, and we have six more ears to help them realize what they already have.” Noted Steans jazz alumni include violinist Sara Caswell (2000), a 2018 Grammy Award nominee, and Marquis Hill (2010), the 2014 winner of what is now known as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition. This year’s jazz program runs from June 9 through 19, with each participant required to write a piece that will be performed during the June 18 showcase. “You don’t have to do anything but play and write music,” Reid said of the program. “It’s very exciting. And that’s very different for people. There are very few people who can just get up and just do that for eight or nine days.” And he is right there beside the fellows, mentoring nearly non-stop from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. everyday. In 2018, Reid gained the title of co-Artistic Director of the Steans jazz program. His current colleagues are Steve Wilson, a saxophonist who has toured with Dave Holland and Chick Corea, and pianist Billy Childs, whose latest release, The Winds of Change , won a 2024 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. The three also oversee the six-year- old Bridges Composition Competition, for which up-and-coming creators sub- mit cross-genre works written for string quartet and jazz trio. This year, the three directors chose three composers from among 25 applicants for the David Baker Prize—Emiliano Lasansky, Jason Moun- tario, and Zhengtao Pan. In addition to a $2,500 award, the winners take part in a weeklong workshop that culminates with performances of the three works on June 11. Although Reid is known today for his virtuosic bass playing, the Sacramento, CA, native got his musical start on the trumpet. After high-school gradua- tion, he even entered the US Air Force as a trumpet player but soon became interested in the double or upright bass. After finishing his military service, he moved to Washington to study the in- strument with Seattle Symphony bassist James Harnett at Olympic College. After two years, in 1969, he decamped to Northwestern University in Evan- ston, IL, where he continued with two members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—Warren Benfield and principal bassist Joseph Guastafeste. He was accepted at four schools but picked Northwestern because of its proximity to Chicago, where he thought he could work as a player while attending school. At the same time he was getting clas- sical training at Northwestern, Reid im- mersed himself in the Chicago’s bustling jazz scene and met out-of-town players who regularly came through the city. At first, he took part in jam sessions, pri- marily on the South Side where he was living, including some at the now-de- funct New Apartment Lounge, where stand-out saxophonist Von Freeman played for many years on Tuesdays with his quartet. “Chicago had an incredible amount of really fabulous players, and I Reid (left) introduces the quintet of musicians he mentored during the 2022 Steans Jazz Program at the culminating Jazz Grandstand concert. While the 15 young professional musicians are in residence for their fellowships at Steans each summer, during their workshops and rehearsals they divide into three quintets, each primarily mentored by one of the Artistic Directors. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JUNE 7 – JUNE 30, 2024 90