For those unaware, think of the songwriters whose work comprises the canon of jazz standards, and names like George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter immediately come to mind.

On his new album, Black, Brown, and Blue, pianist/composer Eric Reed argues for a revision of that canon to focus on Black and Brown composers, songwriters whose work originates within the jazz realm rather than on the Broadway stage.

Due out March 10, 2023, via Smoke Sessions Records, Black, Brown, and Blue features music written by jazz masters like Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Benny Golson, Horace Silver, Buddy Collette, and Buster Williams, along with jazz-conversant pop/R&B songwriters Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers.

In addition, Reed and his bandmates on this thrilling session - bassist Luca Alemanno and drummer Reggie Quinerly - each contribute a new piece of their own.

1. Black, Brown, and Blue
2. Lean on Me
3. I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good)
4. Peace
5. Search for Peace
6. Christina
7. Infant Eyes
8. Cheryl Ann
9. Along Came Betty
10. Variation Twenty-Four
11. One for E
12. Pastime Paradise
13. Ugly Beauty

This soulfully-hued, and wholly organic new album opens on the rhythmic growth and spirals within the titular Black, Brown, and Blue and an emphatic rendition of Bill Withers’ beloved Lean on Me (with Calvin B. Rhone on vocals) and then we are lovingly presented a sumptuous take of Duke Ellington’s I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good), the veritably crystalline, softly shimmering Peace, which is itself followed by, for all intents and purposes, a continuation within Search for Peace.

Along next is one of my own personal favorites on this new recording, the glistening Christina, and that is in turn backed by a dutiful take on Wayne Shorter’s Infant Eyes, then comes the embroidered Cheryl Ann, strident rhythms then embody Along Came Betty, then we are gifted the stately, grandiose Variation Twenty-Four, the quietly playful One for E, the album rounding out on his impassioned, vocalized (by David Dautghtry) take on Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise, closing on Thelonious Monk’s mischievous Ugly Beauty.

Where I am now in my life, I’m only concerned about conveying the most personal and heartfelt ideas through my music. BLACK, BROWN, AND BLUE is the culmination of my life thus far, Reed explains.

Thus what shines through on these performances is the deep well of emotion and feeling that Reed mines in his playing, his expression, and his ability to communicate on a profound level with his new trio.

Reed points to the early stages of his own career when he was a member of that highly touted generation known as the Young Lions. Without dismissing the music created during that period, which he acknowledges was executed by a staggeringly talented group of artists, he regrets the narrow stylistic vision and the carefully controlled image that he was coerced to present to audiences. There was an agenda to create a narrative around jazz that was far too often skewed and extremely antagonistic, he says.

When I first started my path in this music, it was under a different, very revisionist type of energy. Where I am now in my life, I’m only concerned about conveying the most personal and heartfelt ideas through my music. I’ve found myself becoming so much more open.

That openness extends beyond the realization of Reed’s musical choices and into his personal life. Black, Brown, and Blue marks the first album that he has recorded while being completely open about his bisexuality, resulting in what he calls his most autobiographical release to date.

It’s time for me to just go ahead and be completely authentic in every aspect of my life, he insists. That includes, but is not limited to, being more open about my sexuality and proactively moving into spaces connected with the LGBTQ+ community. I think that would have happened in spite of the political climate in this country and the pandemic, but it’s been hurried along. Those aspects of my life were becoming more bold and more broad, and I could no longer keep them on the margins.

Musicians:
Eric Reed - piano
Luca Alemanno - bass
Reggie Quinerly drums
Calvin B. Rhone - vocals on Lean on Me
David Dautghtry - vocals on Pastime Paradise

Eric Reed @ Facebook