DOWNBEAT
September 2007

Rufus Reid Quintet
Live at the Kennedy Center
Media 9
3.5 stars

Anyone who grew up playing along to Jamey Aebersold albums anchored by Rufus Reid, or listening to any of the hundreds of recordings on which he’s appeared since the late ‘60s, knows the reasons for his first-call status. Reid consistently offers an earthy tone, flawless intonation and fluid fingerwork. Plus, you can set your clock by the guy’s impeccable time. All of those qualities remain in full force.

It’s a treat to hear Reid, post-retirement from his job as William Paterson University’s director of jazz studies, stepping back into the spotlight as bassist, bandleader and composer with a consistently appealing live set dominated by his own tunes (the two-disc set also includes a DVD of the same performance). The quintet’s forte is breezy bop, typified by the midtempo opener. “Come Out And Play,” the first of several pieces offering well-taken solo space for Reid, Freddie Hendrix (a trumpeter and flugelhorn player reminiscent of another Freddie) and tenor saxophonist Rich Perry. Hard-driving swing fuels “Forever On My Mind,” effectively a cutting contest for the horn men as well as pianist Sumi Tonooka and drummer Tim Horner. Samba rhythms power the pretty “When She Smiles Upon Your Face,” and “The Meddler” thrives on a grooving 7/4 bass line and a simultaneously rising-and-falling passage.

For the leader’s sole unaccompanied place, he chooses something familiar, bringing Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” to life with a richly humming reading of the melody, interjecting sliding 10ths and stray harmonics, and emphasizing the bluesy dimensions of the song with a solo that has fingers snapping at the Kennedy Center.

-Philip Booth