The Tomeka Reid Quartet, dance! skip! hop!- Review by Jeff Cebulski

The Tomeka Reid Quartet, dance! skip! hop! (Out of Your Head Records, 2026)

By Jeff Cebulski

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Tomeka Reid, cello

Mary Halvorson, guitar

Tomas Fujiwara, drums

Jason Roebke, bass and cassette

Spring has arrived; along with the typical climactic inconsistencies, the jazz market blooms. One of the early blossoms is a minor label treat, dance! skip! hop!, from the cellist Tomika Reid and her quartet. This could be a major season for the adopted Chicagoan Reid, who is also featured on an ECM album from pianist Craig Taborn, Dream Archives. For my money, dance! skip! hop! Is the album of choice, the second album from the quartet that includes the guitarist du jour Mary Halvorson, the subtly animated drummer Tomas Fujiwara, and fellow Chicagoan and bassist Jason Roebke.

While the Taborn album is bathed in abstract chamber aesthetics, the five-selection dance! skip! hop! focuses on groove and rapport, giving us sides of Halvorson and Roebke that aren’t often heard. The result is a string-centered joy ride that combines cello, guitar, and bass in celebration of two of Reid’s favorite people, the late CC (aka Clarence James), a regular at Fred Anderson’s Velvet Lounge, and her Great Aunt CeCe, who is still with us and who remains a personal inspiration.

The title cut opens the album, and the music reflects the title, with Fujiwara’s minimally funky beat underpinning a danceable, twangy pick-and-grin duet from Halvorson and Reid. “a(ways) For CC and CeCe” continues the bright mood, with Roebke giving rhythmic depth to Reid’s fusionesque bowing, with Halvorson in tandem. “Oo long!”, a paean to a favorite restaurant with her favorite tea, is a hip chamber swing ditty empowered by Fujiwara’s funky shuffle and amplified by Halvorson’s psychedelic solo. “Under the Aurora Sky” settles things down as Reid bows a pensive melody aside Roebke’s contrapuntal bass; Halvorson and Fujiwara add commentary to a piece that seems to tell a story. The finale, “Silver Spring Fig Tree,” is a chamber jazz moment where cello, bass, and guitar mix to create a dramatic mélange.

dance! skip! hop! is a spirited collection from the clearly symbiotic Tomeka Reid Quartet, a breath of fresh, bouncy air in this uncertain season.

About Jeff Cebulski

Jeff Cebulski, who lives in Chicago, is a retired English educator (both secondary and collegiate) and longtime jazz aficionado. His career in jazz includes radio programs at two stations in southeast Wisconsin, an online show on Kennesaw State’s (GA) Owl Radio from 2007 until 2015, and review/feature writing for Chicago Jazz Magazine since 2016, including his column "Jazz With Mr. C". He has interviewed many jazz artists, including Joshua Redman, Charles Lloyd, Dave Holland, John Beasley, and Chris Brubeck, as well as several Chicago-based players. Jeff is a member of the Jazz Journalists Association. Contact Jeff at jeff@chicagojazz.com