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THE SOUTH PHILADELPHIA Jazz Masters
Sam Reed started out on the drum and bugle corp at the American Legion Lincoln Post 89 at 20th and Federal St. in South Phila. However, he didn’t particularly care for blisters, which the drum sticks put on his fingers so in 1949, while at Barrett Junior HS. He moved on to the saxophone. He was motivated in that direction through his friendship with “Tootie”, the youngest of the Heath Brothers. He and Tootie played with Ted Curson and when Sam would go to Tootie’s house or to his mother’s beauty parlor, there would be his brother Jimmy Heath practicing on that saxophone. This was the Be-Bop era and Jimmy was one of the innovators and primary musicians as far as modern Jazz was concerned. They used to call Jimmy “Little Bird” after Charles Christopher (Bird) Parker and Sam took a liking to that saxophone sound coming from Jimmy.
Sam convinced his dad to purchase a saxophone from a female neighbor who played sax in a South Philly matching band. He didn’t realize that it was “C” melody horn, the type used in marching bands, which play a lot of melody. He took that horn to school and along with Ted, who switched from drums to the trumpet, and Tootie, he studied under the music teacher at Barrett. Sam moved on to Mastbaum Vocation H.S., which had a world-class music program at the time, and furthered his music education as music major. The guys got plenty of practice playing high school concerts. Sam also put in a little time at Combs College Music School before going on the road, playing with different bands.
With himself on Alto Sax, Sam also formed their own band (“Sam Reed and the All Stars”), with Tootie Heath on drums, Ted Curson on trumpet, Bobby Timmons, alternating with Bobby Green on piano, Henry Grimes alternating with Jimmy Garrison on bass, Leon Grimes on tenor saxophone and Buzzy Wilson on Baritone sax. The band played a lot of gigs around town especially in South Philly. They played regularly for a South Philly social club where they began to draw such a large following that the club moved its affairs to a larger facility in North Philly, Reynolds Hall, and an Elks Lodge. They soon learned that Reynolds Hall was union hall. So they ended up joining the union, with a little help form the social club and their parents. They were still in their teens at the time. The band started doing out of town jobs as well, but ended up stranded in Kansas City, Mo. After the professional musicians objected to teenagers taking their jobs at a venue that was part of a major international club.
Back in Philly, Sam and the guys continued to imitate Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie (and his big band) and Fats Navarro. By playing gigs throughout the city, Sam and the band became friends with musicians from other parts of the city like Lee Morgan and Stanley Wilson (Nicetown), Kenny Rogers (N. Philly), Clarence “C-Sharp” Sharp, Spanky DeBrest and Reggie Workman (Germantown), Sam actually played quite a few gigs with Lee Morgan. It was during a jam session with Lee Morgan that Sam met McCoy Tyner, who asked Sam to give him the chord changes Sam and Lee had used to the tune “Split Kick”.
Because of the good comradery and flow among musicians at the time, Sam also played with Tommy Monroe, Buddy Tenier of the famous Tenier brothers, Kenny Barron, Jimmy Thomas, Art Blakey, George Ruffin, Jimmy Mobley, Cotesville Harris, Freddie Scott, Johnny Lynch, Lex Humphries, Mickey Roker, Arthur Harper, Sam Dockery, Ronald Tucker, Donald “Duck” Bailey, Eddie Campbell and Eddie Moore. Sam also had the opportunity to work with Sarah Vaughan, who was one of his favorite female singers, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington (and the Allegros) and Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong. Sam also played gigs at a lot of different clubs in Philly like the Rendezvous. The Showboat, Peps Bar, Spider Kelly’s, The Northwest Club, Club Media, The Postal Card, The Sahara, The PB Jazz Room and The Woodbine.
Back in 1959 and the 1960’s, Sam worked the shows at the Uptown Theater and was called to take over the shows for Bill Massey after he died. But the Uptown was pure Rhythm and Blues/Rock ‘n Roll and Sam was a Be-bopper at heart, so when he became the house leader at the Uptown, Sam added Jazz shows in between the Rock ‘n Roll artists. The jazz shows included performers like Cannonball Adderly, Nancy Wilson, Ramsey Lewis, Oscar Brown, Jr., Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Jimmy Smith and Gloria Lynne. The Rhythm and Blues/Rock ‘n Roll artists performing at the Uptown were the top acts, including; Lou Rawls, Otis Redding, Chuck Jackson, Fats Domino, Sam Cook, Isaac Hayes, Jerry Butler, Wilson Pickett, Brook Benton, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Joe Tex, Mary Wells. Sam also did studio work for Gamble and Huff, later Philadelphia International, particularly for the Intruders, and also traveled with Teddy Pendergrass and spent some time working out in Los Angeles.
Sam returned to Philly due to the death of his father and remained here. He joined a group called “Saxophone Choir” led by the talented sax player, Odean Pope, and traveled with that group. While back in Philly, Sam Reed decided to give back by working under the leadership of Mrs. Dorothy Nolan and others to start “The Point Breeze Performing Arts Center” in South Philadelphia.
One of Sam’s greatest sources of pride is that when he was hanging around the Earl Theater at age fourteen or fifteen, Charlie Parker took a break and asked the young Sam Reed to hold his horn for him. Sam says he sat there shaking with Bird’s horn in his embrace while everyone laughed at his reaction. Much later, in 1997, Sam learned from a newscast that the horn that he had held for Charlie Parker had been purchased by a gentleman from Kansas City to take back to a museum in honor of Charlie Parker. The buyer had paid $165,000 for the horn and Sam couldn’t help but think how he had held $165,000 in his hands. Now, his shaking made a lot of sense.
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