Nat Reeves
Encyclopedia
Nat Reeves is an American
jazz
bassist
. He currently resides in Hartford
, Connecticut
and teaches at the University of Hartford
. He also performs internationally with a number of Jazz
artists.
on Stitt’s last tour in Japan
. At the same time he moved to Hartford, Connecticut to start working with Jackie McLean
. In Hartford he began teaching at the University of Hartford
and the Artists Collective, an arts organization which his wife, Dollie, had founded. While in Hartford Reeves found a calling in teaching but continued to develop his musical skills through traveling the world performing and recording with Jackie McLean among other jazz performers.
though they first met in the late 1970s in New York City. Performing with Garrett allowed Reeves to further expand his soloing skills and taught him the importance of diverse musical collaborations in an ever-changing setting of musicians and venues. Through traveling and performing together in a mutually respectful musical relationship, a friendship developed that exists today.
, alto saxophone; Kenny Garrett
(alto and soprano saxophones), Pharoah Sanders
(tenor saxophone), René McLean
(alto and tenor saxophones, flute), Sonny Stitt
(piano), Harold Mabern
(piano), Steve Davis
(trombone), Eric Alexander (tenor saxophone), David Hazeltine
(piano), Mike Clark (drummer), Houston Person
(tenor saxophone), Larry Willis
(piano), Mark Templeton
(piano), Pat Metheny
(guitar), Mike LeDonne
(piano), John Scofield
(guitar), Jack Wilson
(piano), Curtis Fuller
(trombone), Eddie Henderson
(trumpet), Joe Farnsworth
(drums), Randy Johnston
(guitar), Javon Jackson
(tenor saxophone), and Benny Green
(piano).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
. He currently resides in Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and teaches at the University of Hartford
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford is a private, independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The degree programs at the University of Hartford hold the highest levels of accreditation available in the US, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...
. He also performs internationally with a number of Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
artists.
Early life
Nat Reeves was first introduced to electric bass by his grandfather, Russell Jackson, at the age of 16. By 24 he had ascended the music scene with the help of other Virginia artists to play in small jazz clubs and at jam sessions in New York City.Early Career and Jackie McLean
In 1982 he performed for the first time outside of the United States with Sonny StittSonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
on Stitt’s last tour in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. At the same time he moved to Hartford, Connecticut to start working with Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
. In Hartford he began teaching at the University of Hartford
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford is a private, independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The degree programs at the University of Hartford hold the highest levels of accreditation available in the US, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...
and the Artists Collective, an arts organization which his wife, Dollie, had founded. While in Hartford Reeves found a calling in teaching but continued to develop his musical skills through traveling the world performing and recording with Jackie McLean among other jazz performers.
Traveling Musician
In 1994, Reeves started touring and recording with Kenny GarrettKenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
though they first met in the late 1970s in New York City. Performing with Garrett allowed Reeves to further expand his soloing skills and taught him the importance of diverse musical collaborations in an ever-changing setting of musicians and venues. Through traveling and performing together in a mutually respectful musical relationship, a friendship developed that exists today.
The Hartt School
In 2001 Reeves decided to focus full-time on his teaching career at the Hartt School. By this time, the University of Hartford had renamed the African American Music Studies Program to the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz. Reeves continued to perform, but not as intensely as in the past twenty years. And he continued his personal and professional relationship with mentor Jackie McLean.Life After Jackie McLean
Since the death of Jackie McLean in 2006, Reeves is committed to perpetuating Jackie McLean’s legacy at Hartt School, as well as continuing his career performing both internationally and inside the United States.Band Leaders
Reeves has worked with a number of great band leaders, including Jackie McLeanJackie McLean
John Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
, alto saxophone; Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
(alto and soprano saxophones), Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
(tenor saxophone), René McLean
René McLean
René McLean is a hard bop saxophonist and flutist. He was born in New York City. He started playing guitar later received his alto saxophone, also had instruction from his father, noted alto saxophonist Jackie McLean....
(alto and tenor saxophones, flute), Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
(piano), Harold Mabern
Harold Mabern
Harold Mabern is a hard bop and soul jazz pianist.Early in his career, Mabern played in Chicago with Walter Perkins' MJT + 3 in the late 1950s before moving to New York in 1959. Mabern has worked with Jimmy Forrest, Lionel Hampton, the Jazztet , Donald Byrd, Miles Davis , J. J...
(piano), Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Steve Davis, OBE is an English professional snooker player. He has won more professional titles in the sport than any other player, including six World Championships during the 1980s, when he was the world number one for seven years and became the sport's first millionaire...
(trombone), Eric Alexander (tenor saxophone), David Hazeltine
David Hazeltine
David Hazeltine is an American jazz pianist.Today a major pianist in the New York and Japan scenes, David Hazeltine has been playing gigs since he was thirteen. He did not seriously consider going into music until right before college. Once he entered into the jazz world he was encouraged by Chet...
(piano), Mike Clark (drummer), Houston Person
Houston Person
Houston Person is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. Person is also known for his distinctive sassy sound and his expressive style of playing...
(tenor saxophone), Larry Willis
Larry Willis
Lawrence Elliott Willis is an American jazz pianist and composer. He has performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion rock music, Bebop and Avant-Garde...
(piano), Mark Templeton
Mark Templeton
Mark Templeton is Principal Trombone of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.Mark studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama 1994-1998 with Eric Crees, Simon Wills and Peter Gane. During this time he became principal of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra...
(piano), Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
(guitar), Mike LeDonne
Mike LeDonne
Michael LeDonne is a jazz pianist and organist known for post-bop and hard bop.His parents ran a music store with his father also being a jazz guitarist. He played with his father at gigs from the age of ten...
(piano), John Scofield
John Scofield
John Scofield , often referred to as "Sco," is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham,...
(guitar), Jack Wilson
Jack Wilson (jazz pianist)
Jack Wilson was an American jazz pianist and composer.-Early life:Wilson was born in Chicago on August 3, 1936, moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana at age seven. From 1949-54, he studied piano with Carl Atkinson at the Fort Wayne College of Music...
(piano), Curtis Fuller
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
(trombone), Eddie Henderson
Eddie Henderson (musician)
Eddie Henderson is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. Henderson's influences include Booker Little, Clifford Brown, Woody Shaw and Miles Davis.-Family influence and early music history:...
(trumpet), Joe Farnsworth
Joe Farnsworth
Joseph Allen "Joe" Farnsworth is an American jazz drummer.Farnsworth was one of five sons born to trumpeter and bandleader Roger Farnsworth; one of Joe Farnsworth's brothers played saxophone in Ray Charles's band. He attended High School in Jakarta International School in Jakarta, Indonesia...
(drums), Randy Johnston
Randy Johnston
Randy Johnston is an American jazz guitarist.Johnston moved to Richmond, Virginia at age thirteen, and played rock music as a teenager. He studied at the University of Miami late in the 1970s and switched focus to jazz music, playing there with Ira Sullivan. He moved to New York City in 1981, and...
(guitar), Javon Jackson
Javon Jackson
Javon Jackson is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He played in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from 1987 until Blakey's death in 1990, and has also played with the Harper Brothers, Benny Green, Freddie Hubbard and Elvin Jones...
(tenor saxophone), and Benny Green
Benny Green (pianist)
Benny Green is a hard bop jazz pianist who was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has been compared to Bud Powell in style and counts him as an influence. As a boy he grew up in Berkeley, California and studied classical piano from the age of seven...
(piano).