August 2020
Whenever anyone asks me, “if you could play like anybody on the planet, who would it be?”… 9 times out of 10, the first person to come to mind is Sharay Reed. He is as versatile as anybody out there but he takes groove and feel to new heights. I challenge you not to move when you listen to this man play bass.
I was lucky enough to watch Sharay from backstage while at a festival gig… somewhere, waiting to go on and I felt like he was giving me a masterclass in how to support a band and lead from the back of the band-stand. To me, his playing speaks of power, restraint and maturity. The music always comes first and nobody makes it feel better than Sharay, to my ears.
While he currently tours with Corey Henry & the Funk Apostles, I saw him with Lalah Hathaway and he’s also played with Patti LaBelle, Kirk Franklin, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin and many, many more.
NPR Tiny Desk Concert with Corey Henry & The Funk Apostles
Feel!
With Lalah Hathaway
I first discovered Sharay via videos from his church in Chicago on YouTube. Phew!… You can feel the energy from here!
Sharay’s tribute to Joel Smith (pretty much the godfather of gospel bass). Sharay has a ton of fantastic clips of him just playing with albums. Each is a masterclass in groove and musicality.
And this is the first clip I ever came across of Sharay. I still pull this one up for students.