American cellist and composer Tomeka Reid offers a distinct concept for every album of her quartet. dance! skip! Hop!, the fourth album of the Quartet, featuring guitarist Mary Halvorson (who plays with Reid in Myra Melford’s Fire and Water Quintet, and both are disciples of Anthony Braxton), Double bass player Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujuwara (who plays with Reid in his 7 Poets Trio), may surprise you with its uplifting spirit and its strong sense of groove that is guaranteed to make your limbs involuntary if not dance.
Reid, Halvorson, Roebke, and Fujiwara are experienced, versatile, and risk-taking composers, improvisers, and bandleaders. Together, they have established the tightly synchronized, refined, and layered rhythmic aesthetics of the quartet through countless tours, offering pieces that are both danceable and thoughtful. On dance! skip! Hop!, Reid dance – literally – ‘in’ and ‘out’ with Halvorson and share the leading roles, both always enrich the melodic themes with commanding, captivating elegance, while Roebke and Fujiwara constantly vary and color the rhythmic base.
The album was inspired by Reid’s family and opening joyful songs pay tribute to the elder generations of the family (depicted on the cover), who inspired her artistic choices, including an uncle who was a regular at Fred Anderson’s Velvet Lounge and a huge supporter of the Chicago scene, but the album’s title references American corenetist Josh Berman’s A Dance and a Hop (Delmark, 2015, in which Roebke plays).
The piece «Oo long!» is Reid’s homage to a restaurant in Düsseldorf called Soba-An, described by her as having the most delicious oolong tea, which Reid visited when she was an artist-in-residence in Moers. Halvorson’s solo ensures you will instantly mark this restaurant on your Google Maps. The last piece, «Silver Spring Fig Tree», is an emotional nod to Steve Feigenbaum, the founder of Cuneiform Records from Silver Spring, Maryland, the city where Reid first started playing cello, and where Feigenbaum lived and worked for many years. Cunefirom released Reid Quartet’s second and third albums (Old New and 3 + 3, 2019 and 2014).
Eyal Hareuveni
Tomeka Reid (cello), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Jason Roebke (double bass, cassette), Tomas Fujiwara (drums)
