Mike Reed

About

Mike Reed is a musician, composer, and presenter based in Chicago. Reed has been part of the vibrant Chicago jazz and improvised music community since 1997. While performing in a variety of projects locally, nationally, and internationally, Reed also leads two widely acclaimed groups, Loose Assembly and People, Places & Things. Reed was named Chicagoan of the Year for Jazz (2008) by the Chicago Tribune and in the 57th annual Downbeat critics poll was distinguished as "Rising Jazz Star;” People, Places & Things was also named as "Rising Jazz Group." Over the years he has had the pleasure to work with luminaries in the jazz and improvised music world including Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Fred Anderson, and Julian Priester, among others. As a producer Reed serves as Chairperson for the Chicago Jazz Festival Programming Committee, and from 2009-11 he served as vice chairman for the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Reed is also the producer of the internationally renowned Pitchfork Music Festival, drawing over 50,000 attendees to Chicago over three days annually and featuring today's most cutting-edge rock and pop artists. In April 2013 Reed opened Constellation, a venue with a mission to present progressive performance and forward-thinking music with a focus on jazz, improvisation, and contemporary classical. Reed is a 2016 United States Artist Fellow and the recipient of the 2019 Meier Achievement Award. He received The City of Chicago's Esteemed Artist Awards in 2020. In 2022 the French Ministry of Culture awarded Reed the honor of the insignia of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the Orders of Arts and Letters).