Bassist/Composer Rufus Reid – Still Evolving

Rufus Reid

Early in his career, the now-legendary bassist Rufus Reid taught his first bass clinic at a college in North Dakota, using a textbook written by the great Ray Brown.  When he rejoined his boss and mentor, saxophonist Eddie Harris, on the road, he told Harris, “I sold 25 Ray Brown books today.” Harris replied, “That’s great. Why don’t you write your own damn book?”  He did — and his The Evolving Bassist has been a leading bass instruction book for the last 30 years.  Reid is now an award-winning big-band composer. You can read my article about Reid’s life, from the June issue of DownBeat, here.