The Much Loved Drummer Tony Reedus is Now in Heaven
by jazzcat on Nov.20, 2008, under News
REST IN PEACE
1959-2008
Tony Reedus, 49, top jazz drummer
Wednesday, November 19,
2008
BY ZAN STEWART
Star-Ledger
Staff
A man with a big heart and a big beat, drummer Tony Reedus
cared for other people the way he cared about making a band swing.
“He
was true blue, he'd do anything for you,” said pianist Mulgrew Miller, who knew
Mr. Reedus as a youth in Memphis, where the drummer was born, and later employed
him in his trio in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“He was
supersensitive,” said his wife, violinist Jenise Grice-Reedus. “He'd see a
person who was sad and would go talk to that person, and would have another
friend for life.”
“He was a funny guy,” said organist and pianist Mike
LeDonne, with whom Mr. Reedus regularly performed. “Just a sweetheart, that's
what Tony Reedus was, and great to work with.”
Mr. Reedus died Sunday of
a pulmonary embolism en route by ambulance to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in
the Richmond Hill section of Queens. He had collapsed at John F. Kennedy
International Airport after getting off an American Airlines flight from
Bologna, Italy, where he had been performing with LeDonne. He was 49.
Mr.
Reedus lived in Irvington with his wife and their 5-year-old daughter, Cameron.
He had been troubled with undetermined gastrointestinal issues since
August.
A superb musician, Mr. Reedus picked up the drums when he was 13
and broke into the upper echelon of jazz just seven years later, performing and
recording with innovative trumpeter Woody Shaw. In a story in The Star-Ledger in
2006, he likened joining Shaw to a baseball player “going from single-A to the
Show.”
“It was music on such a high level,” said Mr. Reedus.
He
played on Shaw's albums “United” (Columbia) and “Master of the Art”
(Elektra/Musician).
Mr. Reedus also played and recorded with such masters
as trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, saxophonist Benny
Golson, and guitarist Dave Stryker. Mr. Reedus also was a leader who made three
solo albums.
Mr. Reedus was noted for his all-around drum kit acumen —
in particular, his ride cymbal beat. “He had a real wide beat, and his feel on
the cymbal was unique,” said Stryker, whose organ trio included Mr. Reedus for
several years. “He felt great to play with, just really swinging,
dancing.”
Of the importance of that beat, Mr. Reedus said in 2006, “It's
a heavy feeling that makes people want to pat their feet, sway back and forth.
When people come to see you play, they want to escape, they want to feel good.
Music is a celebration of life that comes from the heart.”
Mr. Reedus
returned to college in the middle of his career, earning a B.A. in music from
Rutgers University-New Brunswick in 2005. “The day he graduated was one of the
happiest days of his life,” said Grice-Reedus, who plays with the Garden State
Philharmonic and the Plainfield Symphony and leads the Ebony String
Quartet.
Another was the birth of his daughter. “He loved being a father,
being married,” said Stryker.
Linda Grice, Mr. Reedus' mother-in-law,
said: “He loved his family; he took good care of my daughter and my
granddaughter.”
Mr. Reedus' survivors include his brothers Chris and
Keith, both of Memphis.
A visitation will be held Sunday at 2 p.m., with
services at 4 p.m., at the Prospect Presbyterian Church, 646 Prospect St.,
Maplewood. More information is available by calling (973) 763-8955 or visiting
the church's website (prospectchurch.org).
Zan Stewart is the Star-Ledger's jazz
writer. He may be reached at zstewart@starledger.com or (973) 324-9930.
©2008 Star Ledger
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