Vocalist Ed Reed celebrates his 90th birthday in a sequence of Bay Area concerts culminating in this Bird & Beckett date, in the company of Adam Shulman on piano, John Wiitala on bass and Lorca Hart on drums.

Mr. Reed, recording and performing jazz singer, and 2014’s #1 Rising Star Male Vocalist (DownBeat magazine Critics Poll), has been singing all his life, though it was not until 2007 that he recorded and released his first album, just before his 78th birthday. He has since recorded three additional critically acclaimed albums, performed in many of the world’s prominent jazz venues, including three sold out nights at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, been reviewed in major jazz publications, was a guest on the legendary Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz NPR radio program, and was profiled by Nat Hentoff in the Wall Street Journal. His story of addiction, incarceration, recovery and redemption is a testament to the power of the human spirit. Ed will celebrate his 90^th birthday at Bird & Beckett on February 9.

$20 cover charge; $10 for students, musicians, limited income.

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Critical acclaim:

“[Ed] Reed has developed a jazz voice that is distinct—full of the pain, sorrow, love and beauty that go along with taking that long, hard trail through life. All of that is on full display here. When Ed Reed sings… look for an intimate story every time.” DownBeat Editors Pick, July 2011

 “[Reed] stylistically harkens back to the elegant tenderness of Johnny Hartman…richly insightful…intensely moving…hypnotic renderings…” JazzTimes, July/August 2011

“…his singing has only grown stronger and more confident with age. Reed’s story is the ultimate second act. After decades of drug addiction and repeated incarcerations at San Quentin, he has risen to become a critically acclaimed jazz singer. Reed’s is the voice of experience and hard-won wisdom.” DownBeat, Dec. 2013

“Mr. Reed sings in a dark mahogany baritone with careful diction, evoking the midcentury styles of Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole.” New York Times, December 2015