Pianist Eric Reed Trumpets His Marsalis Job

Eric Reed, the youthful Los Angeles pianist who has worked with Buddy Collette, Gerald Wilson and has been leading his own bands around the Southland, has joined trumpeter Wynton Marsalis’ group, replacing pianist Marcus Roberts. Reed will make his first official appearance with Marsalis tonight in San Antonio, Tex.

“Marcus has left the group, and Eric has taken his position,” said Christine Sullivan, assistant to Marsalis’ manager, Ed Arrendell. Roberts was a member of the trumpeter’s band for five years, but his solo career has taken off in recent months. His “Deep in the Shed” RCA album is currently atop the Billboard jazz charts. Roberts appears at the Vine St. Bar & Grill in Hollywood tonight and Saturday.

Reed’s is exhilarated by his selection. “I love Wynton’s band. It’s a cream-of-the-crop gig,” the pianist said by phone from Philadelphia.

But he pointed out potential pitfalls in working for the trumpeter. “It’s musically very challenging, and there’s a lot of studying that goes with the job,” he said. “To be perfectly honest, I think I’d rather play with Art Blakey, which is pretty much a gig where you just blow. It would prepare me for Wynton. You have to be a really well-developed jazz musician to play with him. But don’t get me wrong. I love working with Wynton.”

The fact that he’s new on the job has its problems, too. “I know the band is used to Marcus’ way of playing, so that’s a little frustrating, too. But I’m sure all this will work its way out.”

Reed, who met Marsalis about five years ago and first played with him in 1989, called the trumpeter in March to stay in touch. “I hadn’t spoken with him since last summer, when I had toured with him for the first time, subbing for Marcus. At that time he told me to hold dates in June and the rest of the summer open for him. Then recently he called me and told me the gig was mine.”

The pianist, in his early 20s, was introduced to Marsalis when Reed was a student at the R.D. Kolburn School of Music in Los Angeles, formerly known as the Community School of Performing Arts, a program for gifted grade and secondary school students that is affiliated with the USC. “Little did I realize the impact that he would have on my life in general, and in music, specifically,” he said.”

Marsalis was impressed with the teen-ager’s playing and, after sending him 10 Thelonious Monk albums and suggesting he memorize the solos--”I never did,” said Reed, “but I did learn a lot of the tunes”--he told the pianist to call him up from time to time.

After one such call in 1989, when Reed was completing a single year of study at Cal State Northridge, Marsalis was sufficiently moved by a Reed over-the-phone performance of “Stella by Starlight” to offer the pianist some employment, which included a festival in Aruba, and other concerts in the United States. On some dates, he subbed for Roberts; on others, he sat on the bandstand next to the incumbent pianist, “getting a feel for what Marcus did when he played with the band,” Reed said.

Reed, winner of the Los Angeles Jazz Society’s 1988 New Talent Award, is a graduate of Westchester High School. He was born in Philadelphia and moved to Los Angeles with his parents at age 11. “I grew up listening to people like Ramsey Lewis here in Philadelphia,” he said on the phone, “but I never went to a club. Now that I’m here, I can’t find any live music, but there’s a good radio station.”

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS: The Los Angeles Jazz Society’s Jazz Caravan is taking jazz to the public, and to selected Los Angeles schools, via a series of free concerts to be held this month. The Jazz Caravan can be heard Saturday at 1 p.m. at Griffith Park’s Park Center, located near the Merry-Go-Round.

The LAJS Jazz Caravan includes trumpeter Al Aarons, reedman Herman Riley and drummer Jack LeCompte and plays a variety of material, from ragtime to be-bop. Emcee/historian Chuck Niles provides knowledgeable commentary on each of the band’s performances.

When delivered before a school-age audience, the program includes tunes that children can associate with, such as the “Flintstones’ Theme,” which, as a variant on the jazz standard “I Got Rhythm,” is often played by jazz musicians.

“Tunes like ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ are very popular with the kids,” says LAJS president Teri Merrill-Aarons. “They love hearing something they know. It really helps them relate to what the musicians are doing. And you wouldn’t believe all the art work the kids send us after hearing the shows. It’s wonderful.”

The Jazz Caravan will appear at such area schools as Hawaiian Street Elementary in Los Angeles and the Langdon Avenue Elementary in Sepulveda. The group also also has scheduled a performance for the public at DeLongpre Park in Hollywood on June 23 at 1 p.m. Information: (213) 468-6900.