For Such a Time as This

"One of the year’s most deeply spiritual, soulful works." -- Jim Hynes, Glide Magazine "A beautiful collection of music performed from the heart." -- Nolan DeBuke, The Jazz Word "An intelligent musical outlet in which listeners are not only encouraged to reflect on the struggles faced in society, but also to remember music’s powers in surmounting these struggles." -- Sophie Pryor, Jazz Journal #1 JazzWeek radio chart (3 weeks) *** Perhaps the most personal of them all is FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS is a powerful and uplifting program framed by the realities of global pandemic anxiety, persistent racism and racial injustice, and an acrimonious, fraught Presidential election season. It was in Los Angeles in early 2020, when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a city-wide shutdown, that Reed began to conceive FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS to be recorded in L.A. with local musicians. By the end of June, he was ready and had assembled a gifted, young quartet to record a set of recently penned originals, carefully chosen standard, old chestnuts, and, as he has done regularly over the past 15 years, some restorative Gospel selections. Assembled for this session, the group—drum virtuoso Kevin Kanner, Australia-born bassist Alex Boneham, tenor and soprano saxophonist Chris Lewis--nonetheless displays the chemistry of a long-established band. Reed’s original composition “Make Me Better,” is sung by the soulful Henry Jackson, who “puts a fine point on everything I’m hoping and wishing for–-that I will be made better by this experience, and that I will encourage other people to be better as well.”