In a city renowned for emphasizing not what you know but whom you know, Mike Reed is a nexus of contact information — a somebody someone sent, as well as a someone who sends the somebodies. If you’ve witnessed an improvisational jazz show in Chicago during the past decade, chances are he was involved. Akin to Metro owner Joe Shanahan, who’s accrued a national reputation for welcoming burgeoning artists at his club, Reed shines as an example of a modest local luminary whose decision-making expertise impacts listeners here and abroad.
Indie-rock connoisseurs also owe him a considerable debt. The German-born concert presenter (he detests the term “promoter” and takes fan-friendly steps to avoid such connotations) helps program the Pitchfork Music Festival. Yet his specialty remains cutting-edge jazz. Count the Umbrella Music Festival and weekly Hungry Brain Sunday Transmission Series among the approximately 150 annual events he either organizes or curates. Oh, and in his spare time, Reed happens to be one of Chicago’s finest drummers, regardless of genre.
Still, Reed initially encountered difficulties when searching for venues that would willingly accommodate experimental styles. The frustrations prompted him to start organizing and ultimately to carve out fresh spaces to host performances. That was more than 10 years ago. Fittingly, Reed performs Sunday at one of those-now venerable rooms, the Hungry Brain. Distinct from Reed’s Loose Assembly and People, Places & Things groups, the lineup of Reed, guitarist Jeff Parker, saxophonist Andrew Bishop and bassist Jason Roebke ensures vibrant sonic conflagration will ensue. Prepare for a set steeped in tradition, the present and potential future. And leave any expectations at the door.
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When: 10 p.m. Sunday
Where: Hungry Brain, 2319 W. Belmont Ave.
Price: $7 (21+); 773-935-2118; umbrellamusic.org
