Taking Off: Rebekah Reid

Rebekah Reid’s 235-year old violin, expressive and assured, can be heard jamming amongst chunky Afrobeat rhythms, or conjuring chamber choir intimacy alongside a drummer.

A last-minute gig supporting Roxanne Tattei in spring 2019 was representative of Reid’s hustle and versatility: she prepared quickly, performing a mix of classical and contemporary repertoire, and one of her own compositions in the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room.

When Reid was three, a particular sound from the orchestral record playing in her southeast London home fixated her. Once her mother realised what instrument it was, she got her daughter one, and Reid hasn’t put the violin down since. Her first two decades focussed on classical performance in London and Manchester conservatoires.

“I learned a great deal, but the way classical music is taught needs to be more inclusive and diverse. The industry is still very traditional and can limit how musicians express themselves creatively.” Her schools and instructors were rife with racism and elitism: “The classical world doesn’t see me. Systemic racism meant I wasn’t always taken seriously as a violinist or afforded the same opportunities as my peers”. Despite this, she finished a classical performance degree: “I persevered because I loved the violin.”

Her first jam, seven years ago at a friend’s home, transported her to a new realm. “My music education wasn’t that of a jazzer’s! You never really see violins in that setting, as violinists with a classical music background aren’t usually encouraged to do jazz and improvisation.” When she started improvising, Reid was surprised to discover she had a strong ear and knack for composing. “It was the most freeing thing I’ve ever done. I had never experienced anything like it. Jazz is more open to pushing boundaries and styles. Collaborations are much more commonplace and lead to a mix of styles and cultures. For a Black female violinist, it’s more of a welcoming space.”

She’s since forged an entrepreneurial career spanning teaching, classical performance, composing, and gigging. Each facet of her musicality reinforces the others, and she has innovated amidst the government’s indifference to cultural industries’ precarious futures. “Things changed when I started to curate the environment I wanted for myself with people who responded to me artistically.” She credits the charity Jazz North’s support, Catherine Yates and Pavel Fischer for teaching her their “secrets of violin playing,” and Chineke!, an orchestra whose musicians are predominantly Black and Asian, which helped her procure a 1786 Johann Karl Klotz violin from the Harrison Frank Family Foundation.

Reid embraced her latent talents. “I would always be singing and humming and beating out rhythms, but I didn’t realise it meant I could write music. Improvising helped me tap into those melodies and every piece I had studied and played. It helped me connect all the dots and become a better artist and musician. I no longer doubted myself as a violinist. It was an affirmation for myself.”

Reid explored her composing abilities through many projects, notably a commission with Manchester’s Tangled Dance Company in 2015, whose director, Amy Hallam, encouraged Reid’s artistic freedom. The Arts Council-funded company reaches audiences who may not have exposure to contemporary dance, and performs in unconventional spaces like parks and museums.

Ubiquitous across London’s jazz scene, Reid appears at fixtures like Steamdown and Straightpocket, electronic pedals underfoot to amplify and texture her sounds. She has collaborated with And Is Phi, Wonky Logic, Werkha, and Contours. Reid manages and leads Täpp Collective, which she founded in 2017.

Comprised of Manchester and London musicians, Täpp has appeared on NTS, BBC Introducing, and Worldwide FM. Its debut album, I like what I do // I do what I like, will be released next year. The far-ranging album, recorded at Strongroom Studios, helped develop Reid’s production skills. Its first single, ‘Chasing the Sun’, is a duet with Manchester-based drummer Abbi Phillips. Inspired by days at music festivals, the bright fugue takes a darker, hedonistic turn using synthy, glitchy samples.

The album’s latest single, ‘Never Knew Why’, is what might be called 'orchestral grime'. “It’s a drill track and very different from anything I’ve ever done.” Reid’s furious, relentless strings unsettle and disorient. Spoken word poets Chantelle Gabriella Jazz and Tha Sunshine Emo deliver unapologetic and powerful polemics against centuries of structural racism and performative allyship, and with clever wordplay assert the right to happiness and self-determination. Despite the hostility Reid faced in the first 20 years of her career as a young Black woman from classical institutions, she has spent the past decade independently defining herself and her music, and in doing so has blurred the artificial boundaries within the music industry. “Music is a reflection of what’s going on in the outer world. My lived experience of the music world is a microcosm of what people of colour face every day. I’m grateful to be able to contribute to the changing face of Black culture in the UK.”

Täpp Collective’s I like what I do // I do what I like embodies the infinite possibilities arising from Reid’s singular dedication to the violin.

This article originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of Jazzwise. Never miss an issue – subscribe today