Rufus Reid is a bass player who appears on countless hard bop, bebop, swing, and even some pop sessions. He has played with the likes of Buddy Montgomery, Sonny Stitt, James Moody, Milt Jackson, Curtis Fuller, and Dizzy Gillespie, and recorded with Kenny Dorham, Dexter Gordon and Lee Konitz.
He is equally known as an exceptional educator as well, and his book, “The Evolving Bassist,” is considered a landmark in teaching the instrument.
He graduated from Northwestern in 1971with a Bachelor of Music Degree as a Performance Major on the Double Bass.
Rufus Reid’s major professional career began in Chicago and continues since 1976 in New York City. Playing with hundreds of the world’s greatest musicians, he is famously the bassist that saxophonist Dexter Gordon chose when he returned to the states from his decade-long exile in France. His colleagues include Thad Jones, Nancy Wilson, Eddie Harris and Bob Berg.
Reid is currently touring under the name The Out Front Trio with Steve Allee on piano and Duduka Da Fonseca on drums. They are promoting an album titled “Out Front.”
Steve Allee has collaborated with many well known jazz musicians, including James Moody, Rufus Reid Quintet, Randy Brecker, Phil Woods, Curtis Fuller, and the Buddy Rich Orchestra.
Allee’s accomplishments included being commissioned to write a piece for the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. and composing the score for the film New York in the Fifties, based on a book of the same name by Dan Wakefield. The score was performed live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Allee has also composed the soundtrack for Something to Cheer About, the film of the 1954-55Crispus Attucks basketball team, starring Oscar Robertson. Allee has written music for television shows, including Chicago Hope, Friends, NYPD Blue, Mad About You, Martha Stewart Show, Nash Bridges, Touched by an Angel, and Dharma and Greg. He is the music director for the radio show The Bob and Tom Show, which is nationally syndicated.
Deduka de Fonseca is a member of the Brazilian jazz group Trio da Paz, one of the most visible in the world.
