David Reed

David Reed is a multi-instrumentalist professional musician based in New York City. His father was a jazz trumpet player in Albany, NY. David started playing the guitar when he was nine. A few years later he was playing in rock bands, singing in the school choir and now also playing the trumpet. When David was sixteen he was hired to play in a local jazz quintet with professional adult musicians. This steady group performed in front of a live audience for four straight hours every Friday and Saturday night for almost two years while David was still in high school. David later moved to Los Angeles where he continued to perform in jazz groups throughout his twenties. When he was thirty, David moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina to study tango music with teachers of both guitar and piano. He later moved to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil to study Candomblé percussion for six months in one of the most noted Candomblé temples, the Ilê Axé Iyá Omin Iyamassê. Both of these experiences greatly influenced David's understanding of both music and teaching. David later relocated to Barcelona, Spain where he spent seven years teaching musical improvisation for all instruments. He had the opportunity to work with hundreds of students of all different ability levels and backgrounds. All of the really big discoveries that led to the creation of the Improvise for Real method are the result of this period of experimentation in Barcelona. He was also performing regularly during this time. Notable concerts include the International Youth Jazz Festival (Italy, 2006), a private performance for the Council of Europe (Andorra, 2007) and the Catalan jazz festival "Jazz Cat" (Barcelona, 2008).