Meet Reed Jorgensen | Saxophonist and bandleader of The Midnight Collective

We had the good fortune of connecting with Reed Jorgensen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Reed, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Jazz music is special in that it is an improvised artform. While the songs we play do have a structure, it is up to the individual musician to improvise over the given chord structure at any given moment, listening to everyone else in the band. Being a band of 5 people, we – Reed, Isaac, Alex, Jaiden, and Blake – all come from different musical upbringings. Throughout middle and high school, we all individually gained an appreciation for jazz, and we started to learn how to play it. It is through this improvisation that each of us find both an infinite creative outlet, but also a demand for self-discipline. A jazz soloist is the most vulnerable musician on the bandstand: a jazz soloist must play what they themselves feel at the given moment. It is with this vulnerability that all five of us find comfort, where we are able to truly express ourselves in a medium we feel most comfortable.

Through different programs like the Georgia State Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra and the weekly Red Light Cafe jam-session in midtown, we all met and became friends. In the summer of 2022, I (Reed Jorgensen) and Jaiden Swamy began The Midnight Collective as a way to just play jazz with friends and have a good time. However, as we all became more comfortable playing with each other, we decided that we should try and make a business out of this music. As musicians, we all agreed that it was not only our desire to share the gift of jazz to the people, but also our duty to keep this music alive. Ever since then, we have played as working musicians together under the name The Midnight Collective.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In all honesty, the hardest part about jazz is the individual journey you embark on when picking up your instrument. Hours alone in a practice room, playing the same 8 notes over and over again, learning jazz is a lonely and greuling journey. However, this hard work undoubtedly pays off. With this hard work, coming together to play as a band is as easy as it gets: the reason the Midnight Collective is so successful as a band of teenage jazz musicians is because we all are diligent about practicing our parts, not just for us individually, but for the success of the band. One thing that makes us special is both our age and our choice of music. While all of us are able to play a wide variety of genres, we choose to play jazz. This, for many bands of people our age, is quite unique. Due to our youth, we have also been a lot more influenced by other genres of our time, such as hip hop and R&B, bringing distinctive rhythms and grooves to our music that many other, more traditional jazz bands may not have.
In terms of tangible accomplishments, I am thankful to say that we do have a few. This band has brought us a lot of exposure within the atlanta music scene, being able to play at many different venues. We have played at many places, whether that be private house parties, gigs at restaurants like Atkins Park and Buteco, as well as performances at places such as the Velvet Note. We also have recorded for a short film series made by a Depaul University film student called “Margaret is Not Fine,” where I wrote all original compositions and to record for the film. We also recorded our audition tapes for universities together, being able to get into colleges with our playing. We also have been able to record songs to post to social media, as well as to have professional recordings. In fact, during December of 2023, we began our first recordings of a jazz EP that is to be released at a later date.
We are thankful to have seen success through playing the music we love, and it has been a pleasure to be able to play this music to so many people in the Atlanta area.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As an Atlanta native, there are an infinite amount of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and activities to do while you are in the city. Whether that is picking up some J.R. Crickets on the way to Piedmont Park, visiting the High Museum of Art, grabbing a nice cup of coffee at Bellwood coffee, or walking around Little Five Points, there is never a dull moment in this city. However, as a musician myself, I would take a different approach to showing a friend around the city. The first place to visit would be the Red Light Cafe in midtown, where they have jazz jam sessions every wednesday. In terms of the Atlanta jazz scene, this jam session is at the center of it: musicians amateur and professional of all ages are invited to play jazz with one another, where jazz musicians from both Atlanta and out of town are given the opportunity to connect and play with one another. Another thing I would bring a friend to would be the TenATL jazz jam session late on monday evenings. This is also a great place to meet and play with fellow jazz musicians, with some of the best musicians in the southeast frequenting the bar. The atmosphere and exciting music at the TenATL lounge is a perfect way to introduce someone from out of town to Atlanta’s music and culture. Further, since it is in the East Atlanta neighborhood, there is also a large selection of restaurants to eat before heading over to the jam session, such as Argosy or EAV Thai and Sushi. In my personal opinion, these venues are a perfect way to introduce someone to the city of Atlanta through a unique musical experience.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In our story, there are countless people to thank. We first want to thank our families for putting up with us playing our loud instruments for hours on end, daily, for years: it can absolutely get annoying sometimes. We also want to thank our idols who made jazz music what it is today: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, and countless others who continue to inspire us. In our community, we would like to recognize Dr. Gordon Vernick, a professor at GSU, for facilitating the jazz jam sessions at the red light and the Rialto youth Jazz Orchestra that enabled us all to meet one another and teach us the jazz language and business throughout our middle school and high school careers, and who continues to be a beacon of jazz in the Atlanta music scene. Another individual we would like to recognize is Gopal Swamy, Jaiden’s (our drummer) dad, who is a recording engineer in Atlanta, and who has not only hosted our band numerous times but also has helped us make recordings on a multitude of different occasions.

The final shoutout we wish to give is to the Atlanta jazz community. In many other cities, the jazz community can become toxic, where all of the players are trying to one-up each other, creating a toxic competitive environment. However, in Atlanta, all players are consistently encouraging us to improve and helping us along the way. Also, due to Atlanta’s rich musical culture, jazz listeners are always appreciative of new players on the scene, supporting not only us as individuals, but our generation as the rising faces of jazz music.

Instagram: @midnightcollectivejazz

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIBLloZEU6xSZPIN3A3v5IQ

Image Credits
Malahk Goldson