​Artifacts is a collective trio consisting of Nicole Mitchell on flute and electronics, Tomeka Reid on cello and Mike Reed on drums.

The trio, was formed to celebrate the legacy of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians during its 50th anniversary, interpreting compositions by some of its members. A review by Bill Meyer notes that the trios “…performances are pithy and lucid, which makes for satisfying listening…a good introduction to the avant-garde.”

Tomeka Reid

Cellist Tomeka Reid, grew up outside of Washington D.C., moving to Chicago in 2000 to pursue graduate studies at DePaul University. There she worked various AACM-related groups and eventually in ensembles led by established masters such as Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, as well as by younger generation of visionaries including flutist Nicole Mitchell, singer Dee Alexander, and drummer Mike Reed. She is also a co-leader of the string trio Hear in Now, with violinist Mazz Swift and bassist Silvia Bolognesi. Reid released her debut recording as a bandleader in 2015, with the eponymous recording by the Tomeka Reid Quartet (with bassist Jason Roebke, guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara) that demonstrated her compositional and arranging abilities. She has been celebrated as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in the Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community, and although she is now based in New York, she still returns to the Windy City on a regular basis. Reid is the 2016 recipient of a 3Arts award in music and received her doctorate in music from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2017.

Nicole Mitchell

Nicole Mitchell is a classically trained flutist (she also plays the piccolo and the alto flute) who has developed a highly individual instrumental style while also cultivating her compositional and educational skills. Initially inspired by visionaries such as Eric Dolphy and David Newton, she extended her well-developed classical technique in new directions, concentrating on the more progressive forces in improvised music. With a degree in music from Oberlin, she settled in Chicago and quickly became immersed in the unique new-music scene of that city, joining an all-woman ensemble of the AACM. At first, she was one of the new young faces; eventually, she rose to become the first woman to chair the organization and worked tirelessly at cultivating another generation of artists. Her music celebrates contemporary African American culture; she is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections and Ice Crystal, and composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size, while incorporating improvisation and a wide range of aesthetic expressions. Renowned as one of the top flutists in jazz, she has also garnered an impressive number of compositional commissions. A recipient of many awards, she is currently Professor of Music at the University of California, Irvine.

Mike Reed

Drummer and composer Mike Reed was born in Germany and has been a member of the Chicago jazz and improvised music community since 1997. He has performed regularly with local luminaries such as David Boykin, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, Josh Abrams, James Baker, and Rob Mazurek, as well as with Chicago jazz legends Ira Sullivan, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Julian Priester, Fred Anderson, and Art Hoyle. While performing in a variety of projects locally, nationally and internationally, Reed also leads two widely acclaimed groups, Loose Assembly and People, Places & Things. He has served as vice-chair of AACM and has served on many festival planning committees, most notably as the Director of the internationally renowned Pitchfork Music Festival. He also owns the performance space Hungry Brain and runs other venues such as Constellation, one of the city’s most important places that is fostering artistic growth in improvised, experimental and classical music.