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Jef Reynolds continues to make and produce music from the metonym of automobiles and soul, The Motor City. While working a day job, Jef also managed to tour with and accompany many artists: Lesley Gore, Lou Christie, The Crystals, Martha Reeves , Danny and the Juniors, The Coaster, Little Eva, Freddy "Boom-Boom" Cannon, Archie Bell, Fabian, Billy J. Kramer, The Tokens, Alex Chilton (lead singer of the Box Tops and founder of Big Star) and Wolfman Jack and his Midnight Special Rock and Roll Revival Road Show. Mr. Reynolds spent his formative years learning from and playing with great Detroit jazz musicians (including the legends: Joe Messina, Ralphe Armstrong, Michael Karoub, Ron English, Wendell Harrison, RJ Spangler). Early in his career, he replaced bassist Jervonny Collier as a member of Shivers, a band from Detroit signed to A&M Records in the 1980s which played all around Michigan and Canada. During this period, he was also an on-call session player at Cloudborne, Ron Rose and Producers Color Service Studios. He took part in the early recordings and productions of the songwriting team of Michael King and Gary Nester. Recorded works include appearances on all of Jo Serrapere's CDs, Kitty Donohoe's CD This Road Tonight, Scott Loudon's CD Space and Time (recorded at the very cool Jackpot! Studios in Portland, Oregon), David Nefesh's CD Pureheart, plus eclectic albums by Blowtop and Pub Domain. In 2006, he became a regional member of Professor Louie and the Crowmatix. Currently, he is a member of Jo Serrapere and the Willie Dunns, Automatic Mojo and The Magic Poetry Band, and produced their 2007 release, The Kurl of the Butterfly's Tongue. This album also includes works of veteran jazz artists Faruq Z.Bey (Griot Galaxy), Ron English (Detroit Artists Collective and The Woolies!!), and features stunning visual contributions by legendary graphic artist Gary Grimshaw and photographer Leni Sinclair. Working with RJ Spangler, Mr. Reynolds co-produced Detroit is My Home, showcasing the legendary blues artists Alberta Adams, and assisted in the production of You Know I Can't Refuse - The Bill Heid Sessions. He is also a part of a Detroit "Juke-Joint down and dirty swing" revivalist movement as an inaugural member of the Planet D Nonet, a nine piece band lead by RJ Spangler. Jef Reynolds continues his celebration of the Rudy Van Gelder tradition of music recording, maintaining a splendid home studio that looks out at Lake St.Clair. It has served as a songwriting workshop for many artists including Stax Records soul music legend Sir Mack Rice. A brief video of one of these sessions can be found at the bottom of the Galleries Tab. |
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Copyright (c) 2006-2011, Jef Reynolds. |
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