The JAZZY Reed Trio

This weekend the Eric Reed Trio
showcased at the Jazz Bakery, a lovely
jazz club in Culver City situated in the
old Helms bread factory. When passing
by Father's Office, which is adjacent
to the club, it was nearly impossible to
think of a serene place existing so close
to such a chaotic location.

A world much Pianist Eric Reed plays with his trio at the Jazz Bakery on March 18.different than what was occurring next door was immediately available to those
wanting an escape from the faster city
life upon entrance to the Jazz Bakery.
There to inspire and share Reed's new
CD Stand!, it seemed that on this
particular Thursday that no one wanted
such an escape which was unfortunate
because every instrumentalist in the
trio was profoundly talented. The
first showing of this evening at eight
o'clock had roughly 12 attendees and
the following show at nine-thirty had
only six.

Before Reed began to compose his own masterpieces in his trio as a pianist, he worked alongside the Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson. This wasn't entirely evident in his performance,
as Reed and his trio exemplified their
own style of jazz separate from his former counterparts, but were no less great. The drummer Kevin Kanner and bassist Hamilton Price seemed much younger than Reed and sometimes on-stage interaction was strange.

Both the bassist and the drummer would
look at each other and sheepishly grin
several times throughout the show while
Reed fluttered his fingers over the keys
unaware of their actions, leading the patrons of the event to wonder what exactly was happening on-stage instead of simply enjoying the music. Whileinstrumentally, it seemed as if Reed's pushing of his CD ruined the show for the little audience there was because the songs he tried to play off his new CD seems too 'showtunistic' and not
inspired enough by the classics of jazz.

If his music were labeled as some other genre this might be more acceptable. One song Reed had dedicated to a friend, who had passed "much too early" according to Reed, was almost entirely played on the piano alone
and was not jazz at heart, but a song designed for a memorial service. Reed had in fact admitted that the song was used at the woman's memorial service before playing it. The song itself was beautiful but just not appropriate for a jazz setting such as this.

Still, this was not enough to detract from the inspiring solos each artist gave at various points in the hour-long performance.
There are revolving doors for performers at the Jazz Bakery so every experience is entirely different at this venue. The friendly staff and pleasant reception area is enough to keep someone coming back for many weekends to come. If you find yourself
in the same situation as many college
students on a Thursday night wondering
what to do, grab a ticket to the Jazz
Bakery and enjoy the show--however,
do it before May 31, as the venue will
be closing its doors and relocating from
the Helms District.