The many projects of TOM REESE
Fly Magazine
    Men like Tom Reese are a rare breed. Renaissance men. Guys that can do it all and never spread too thin. As a jazz flautist, classical flautist, and composer, his concepts and images in music are respectfully timeless.  Reese, like a true artisan, relies on heartfelt inspiration to begin his creations. He peers through everyday life and interprets nature in his own graceful compositions. Great thoughts never go out of style, and Reese is driven by the simple basics of life that many of us take for granted.
    He tells me in our interview, "I live a life of peace, life is great, and I'm blessed. My approach to jazz is a conversation." The Reese Project's latest album, Blue Etude, is a prime example. Released in 2000, the album is an invigorating and bustling banter between Reese and 10 other musicians; a prominent vibe of friendship abounds within the recording. Blue Etude very curiously pulls the listener in with a baffling diversity of tunes. Approaching the three-minute mark in "Loose Goose Blues," Reese can be heard interjecting his trademark "Yeah" amid a minefield of slick drum fills. Never shy about exposing his enthusiasm, Reese seems to radiate a contagious optimism in every project he graces. The music is inclusive, just like Reese.  When I first met him, he was playing at Ellington's in Lancaster and he introduced me to everyone he knew in the room. Beyond being polite, he made sure that I felt comfortable and included. Hes bearing on music is much the same.
    Jazz is a brotherhood. Many players and writer I know advise not to venture forth into the world of jazz alone. Reese's consortium is one of artists he can trust with his sketches. "The cats I play with are just an extension of my thought processes," he says. To get a call from Reese means he reveres you as someone exceptional. He met his wife, Laurie Haines Reese, after they played a gig together at the Hershey Hotel. He views Laurie not only as an inspiring partner but as "a professional msuician he can always count on."
    Formed in 1990, The Reese Project include Reese on flute and Indian flute, brother Kirk Reese on piano, and rounding out the family, wife Laurie on cello. The Project also features Nashville monster Bobby Brewer on guitar, Johnny DeFrancesco (brother of world-famous organist Joey DeFrancesco) on guitar, Paul Klinefelter on bass, and Glenn Ferracone on drums.  The CD also features a few additional guests: vocalists Anne Sciolla and Jesse Yawn, along with Johannes Dietrich on violin and viola, and Jeff Stabley on congas.  The chemistry among these players led the Innervisions' Jazz charts to rate Blue Etude the No. 1 album of 2000 [and 2001].  And it reached No. 43 on Gavin's national radi jazz charts; the CD stayed in the top-60 for five weeks. Live, local performances are a montage of the aforementioned lineup, trimming the group down to a duo at some venues.