The Tomeka Reid Quartet and Tomas Fujiwara's 7 Poets Trio

The Tomeka Reid Quartet and
Tomas Fujiwara's 7 Poets Trio
Performance at Real Art Ways

Sunday, February 25 | 3pm

HARTFORD, CONN. On Sunday, February 25 at 3pm, Real Art Ways will host a performance from two outstanding groups, both featuring cellist, composer, and educator Tomeka Reid. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for Real Art Ways members, and $5 for full time students. Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street in Hartford.

Tomeka Reid is one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians to emerge from Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community over the last decade. As a cellist, composer, and bandleader, Reid melds the Western classical tradition with modes rooted in the African diaspora and avant-garde to produce a rich and textured palette of sounds. She participates in several musical groups as a member or bandleader and composes and arranges works for small and large ensembles with varied instrument combinations. For more information on Reid, please click here to visit her website.

The Tomeka Reid Quartet

Reid released her debut recording as a bandleader, Tomeka Reid Quartet, in 2015 featuring herself (cello), Jason Roebke (bass), Mary Halvorson (guitar), and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). The album they released provided a vibrant showcase for the cellist’s improvisational acumen, as well as for her dynamic arrangements and compositional ability. The quartet’s second album, Old New (2019) has been described as “fresh and transformative...striking out in bold, lyrical directions, with plenty of Reid’s singularly elegant yet energetic and sharp-edged bow work.” A new record is anticipated in spring 2024.

Tomas Fujiwara's 7 Poets Trio

"Fujiwara performs with quiet poise while Reid’s bowing appears to be largely improvised as it pushes boundaries. Brennan is relentlessly busy, making this group sound bigger than a trio.” —Mike Borella, Avant Music News

Tomas Fujiwara assembled his 7 Poets Trio with Patricia Brennan and Tomeka Reid for the first time during his residency at The Stone in April 2018, after having previously played with Patricia in Michael Formanek’s Ensemble Kolossus, and with Tomeka in her Quartet. As has been the case with his past ensembles (Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up, The Tomas Fujiwara Trio, Triple Double, and the Tomas Fujiwara Percussion Quartet), Fujiwara brought together two musicians who had never played together before, creating a brand new combination of musical personalities.

Their eponymous debut came out in 2019 on Rogue Art, with a follow up album, Pith, released in September 2023 on Out of Your Head Records. This record features six tracks of narrative chamber-jazz, performed by three of the finest improvisers and interpreters of composed material active today in modern creative jazz.

The instrumentation of 7 Poets Trio is unique. In fact you’d be hard pressed to name another jazz or improvising ensemble consisting of vibraphone, cello, and drums. If you replace “drums” with “percussion,” it’s a combination you might see programmed in the new music or contemporary classical world. The compositions for Pith treat the trio as a mini orchestra, with each musician filling multiple roles throughout the record.