Jake Reed: 2008 Scholarship Recipient

Hudson Music and the Percussive Arts Society teamed up in 2006 to begin offering the PAS Hudson Music Drumset Scholarship. This scholarship continues our commitment to music education, and to the support of student drummers.

Funding is provided through proceeds from sales of Hudson Music’s “Classic Jazz” series DVDs. This annual $1000 scholarship is awarded to a full-time student registered in an accredited college or university school of music during the academic year.

This year’s recipient is Jake Reed, a student at the USC Thornton School of Music. We took a few minutes to speak with Jake and give you a little background on this fine young musician – and show you a segment from his application video!

If you’d like to learn more about Jake, check out his website – www.jakereedmusic.com.

Check out a video of Jake playing!

This video, taken from his senior recital, features Jake on drums, along with Dan Martinez on piano and Steve Whipple on bass.

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Tell us about yourself:
I’m 23 years old and I grew up in Parkville, Missouri, which is near Kansas City. After graduating from Park Hill South High School, I went to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) where I was a Jazz Studies major. While at CCM, I had the privilege of studying with John Von Ohlen as well as many other fine musicians.

Cincinnati was a great place to gain a ton of experience in both playing and teaching. Three weeks ago I moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California-Thornton School of Music where I’ll be working on an MM in Jazz Studies. I am very much looking forward to studying with the great Peter Erskine and having the opportunity to make music with so many great musician here in LA.

How did you get started playing drums?
This makes me laugh when thinking about it now, and I’m not sure why but… When I was about ten years old, I discovered “MTV”. By the way, this is back when they used to play actual music videos. This was also right around when Green Day released their “Dookie” album so, naturally, I thought it was the coolest thing ever…and in particular watching Tre Cool’s drumming in the video was even cooler. For the first few months, I tried to mimic him on my mother’s coffee cans. Finally, my parents broke down and bought me a set of drums from Bill Cardwell’s C and C drum shop: a Ludwig, blue vistalite with concert-style toms (no resonant head). The tom sizes were 10”, 12”, 14”, 15”, a 22” x 14” bass drum, and a 14” x 5 1/2” acrolite snare drum. So that’s the story of my first “drum” experience. Two years later, I started taking drum lessons from Dr. Dennis G. Rogers, who is still one of my greatest mentors. Lessons with Dennis were great. He taught classes of five or six students and we focused on snare drum, drum set, and keyboard percussion. In addition to private lessons, I was in the school concert band, marching band, and jazz ensemble. I feel it was a huge blessing to receive such a well-rounded music education from an early age.

What is currently playing in your iPod?

• Erskine/Pasqua/Carpenter- “Standards” (Peter Erskine-drums)
• Bill Evans- “Empathy and a Simple Matter of Conviction” (Shelly Manne-drums)
• Al Green- “Lay it Down” (Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson-drums)
• McCoy Tyner- “The Real McCoy” (Elvin Jones-drums)
• The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra- “Live at MCG” (Jeff Hamilton-drums)

Who are your main influences as a drummer?
John Von Ohlen, Jeff Hamilton, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, “Papa” Jo Jones, Mel Lewis, Shelly Manne, Max Roach, “Philly” Joe Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, John Bonham, Steve Jordan, Clyde Stubblefield, David Garibaldi, Airto Moreira, Erivelton Silva, Brian Blade, and Peter Erskine…those are the main influences.

How did you learn about the Hudson PAS scholarship?
I’m a PAS member, and I was browsing the PAS website for scholarships.

Tell us a little bit about your application DVD…
This video is from my senior recital for CCM at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati. It’s my arrangement of Victor Feldman’s tune “Seven Steps to Heaven” in 7/4 time. I chose this video because I felt there was a lot of good interplay happening among the trio, which consists of Dan Martinez on piano and Steve Whipple on bass. It was one of those exciting, unexplainable musical moments. I’m just thankful that the Hudson PAS Scholarship committee thought it was too.

Do you have a favorite drum DVD you like to watch?
YES! I do. My favorite is the “Classic Drum Solos and Drum Battles 2” DVD by Hudson Music. It has all my favorite drummers on one DVD. I love it!

What are you plans post graduation? Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 15 years?
Well, after I finish my MM in a couple years, I plan on getting a DM. Why not, right? In 10-15 years I hope to be playing with as many great musicians as possible making great music. I’d really like to tour for a bit if I get the chance. “There ain’t nothin’ like the road,” as they say.