Jazz Is: Now – Cleo Reed Experimental Trio – Curated by Cleo Reed

Cleo aims to create a space of self-care + improvisation for a special NJMH Takeover in November. She is supported by Keenyn Omari on flute / sax and Pushpa Palanchoke on voice.

Recently, they developed software instruments for Jon Batiste’s “American Symphony” at Carnegie Hall. Their debut album project, “Root Cause, ” is out now and has received support from Bandcamp, Vinyl Me Please, Pitchfork, and OkayPlayer, amongst others. Cleo is an alumni of Harlem School of The Arts and a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music. At 19, Cleo Reed named themselves after Cleophus, their great-grandmother and a fellow Aquarius. Cleo is also a recipient of the 2022 NYC Women’s Fund for Media Music and Theatre, and a 2023 OneBeat Fellow.

Cleo Reed
Cleo Reed is a sound composer, performer, and multi-disciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Recently, they developed software instruments for Jon Batiste’s “American Symphony” at Carnegie Hall. Their debut album project, “Root Cause,” will premiere in February 2023. In 2023, they premiered a self-directed performance art piece titled “Black American Circus” in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary album project. Cleo Reed is a 2023 BRIC Artist-In-Residence, a recipient of the 2022 NYC Women’s Fund for Media Music and Theatre, and a 2022 Art Omi Fellow. At 19, Cleo Reed named themselves after Cleophus, their great-grandmother and a fellow Aquarius. Whether underground or academic, experimental or popular, They express musicianship guided by their radiance, femininity, and cyclical traumas.

Pushpa Palanchoke

Pushpa Palanchoke is a charismatic vocalist and ethnomusicologist from Nepal who exhibits a dedication to community work, scholarship, history and revival. She grew up in a home in which music was part of a spiritual practice. In addition to her strong musicianship as a singer, Pushpa runs a community program called Folk Lok, where she creates collaborative modules which breathe new life into community music traditions.

Keenyn Omari

Keenyn Omari is a multi-instrumentalist/producer based in New York City. Though he performs frequently in the city, he has also toured with artists such Big Daddy Kane, Solange, and Lion Babe to name a few. When not performing on stage, he spends his time producing and working on his own solo projects.

About the Jazz Is: Now Curatorial Fellowships

Since its founding, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem has provided young artists with opportunities to perform as well as curate concerts and events. NJMH Artistic Director Christian McBride started curating performances and presentations at the Museum in 2006, and Artistic Director Jon Batiste began in 2010 while a student at Juilliard. The excitement and energy those events brought to our community inform our current programming and creative vision. As Christian and Jon became globally recognized jazz ambassadors, the Museum continued to provide emerging artists with career-enhancing opportunities to curate events at the Museum. In 2022, we formalized this initiative as the Jazz Is: Now Curatorial Fellowships, with generous funding from the New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fellowship Program. Our second cohort of Jazz Is: Now Curatorial Fellows includes drummer and producer Gengis Don and sound composer, performer, and multi-disciplinary artist Cleo Reed.

Gengis and Cleo will be performing and curating a variety of events at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem throughout 2023.

Tue, Nov 07

7:00 pm

National Jazz Museum in Harlem