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Tomeka Reid gives budding musicians a taste of jazz

Chicago cellist leads TD High School Jazz Intensive program at festival
Tomeka Reid
Tomeka Reid leads the TD High School Jazz Intensive as part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival coastaljazz.ca.

TD High School Jazz Intensive with Tomeka Reid, July 2, noon, at the Roundhouse, David Lam Park Stage. Free. Part of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Full schedule and ticket info at coastaljazz.ca.

It was not the rich, resonant sound of the cello that first attracted Tomeka Reid, but rather its imposing size.

In fact, she'd never actually heard the stringed instrument being played before she decided to take it up in elementary school.

"It seemed like all the girls were going for the flute and the violin," Reid says of her fellow music program members. So, in the interest of being different, she and a friend opted to go big. That friend later switched to the saxophone, to Reid's disappointment, but she stuck with what she knew.

Today, the Washington, D.C. native is a professional cellist, composer and educator now based in Chicago. And she's travelling to the West Coast to share her musical expertise with local high schoolers. For the fifth year in a row, Reid is guest conducting the TD High School Jazz Intensive.

First and foremost, Reid says her goal is for the youth to have a good time.

"I hope that they enjoy the music and that we work on teamwork."

But she also wants to give them a taste of what it's like to work as professional musicians. During the intense rehearsals, they will learn to be punctual, to focus and to always carry a pencil.

Although Reid first picked up a cello in elementary school, it took her a few years to get serious about her music.

"I feel like I didn't really fall in love with the instrument until high school," she says, explaining she started private lessons in her sophomore year.

She continued her music education at university and was introduced to jazz in her final year by a mentor. Until that point, she had been focused on classical music but, thanks to some friendly coaxing, she tried her hand at jazz improvisation and ended up liking it - which came as a bit of a surprise.

"I used to be a very shy person," Reid says, having always thought her quiet personality wouldn't mesh with jazz. "You're really kind of naked when you're improvising. People are watching you think on your feet, basically."

Though the style proved a challenge, Reid also found it very fulfilling and kept it up. Now entrenched in Chicago's vibrant jazz community, she is involved with Dee Alexander's Evolution Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings, Mike Reed's Loose Assembly, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and Great Black Music Ensemble. She also co-leads the internationally recognized string trio Hear in Now.