Cleo Reed Reimagines the American Folk Tradition at SFJAZZ

The line between artist and audience blurs as Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Cleo Reed presents a raucous reworking of American tradition at the Joe Henderson Lab.

Cleo Reed. Photo courtesy of SFJAZZ

See the full show details and ticket information at the end of this feature. Listen to the full conversation with Cleo Reed below:

In the lineage of American music, the work song has long served as both a rhythmic tool for survival and a record of exploitation. For Brooklyn-based songwriter, sculptor, and instrument builder Cleo Reed, those traditions form the foundation for a distinctly Black-centered reimagining of American folk. Raised between New York City and Washington, D.C., Reed moves fluidly across disciplines, creating performances that blur the lines among concert, installation, and ritual.

On Wednesday, February 25, Reed brings that expansive vision to the Joe Henderson Lab at the SFJAZZ Center, presenting music from their ambitious 2025 double album, Cuntry.

Recently named one of Pitchfork’s “21 Breakout Artists to Watch,” Reed describes the project as a kind of “State of the Union.” The album channels anger and urgency while examining the physical and emotional toll of labor in America. It tells stories shaped by American labor systems and imperial agendas, creating space for working people to reflect on how they have been exploited—or how they may have participated in others’ exploitation.

The structure of Cuntry is intentionally divided. Side A draws on the canon of American work songs, rooted in blues, soul, and folk traditions that reflect Reed’s Southern family heritage. Side B shifts into a darker electronic terrain, influenced by their immersion in the New York underground scene. The tension between acoustic tradition and electronic futurism becomes the record’s central narrative engine, a space where Reed’s storytelling feels most immediate and incisive.

Even the name “Cleo” carries lineage. It honors Reed’s great-grandmother and underscores the importance of ancestry in their artistic identity. Though classically trained as a percussionist and a Berklee College of Music graduate, Reed has consistently sought a deeper connection to blues and folk storytelling traditions. That inherited and studied knowledge now converges in work that serves as both performance and a living archive.

What to Expect at SFJAZZ

The Joe Henderson Lab performance offers a more intimate setting than Reed’s large-scale immersive installations, such as Black American Circus. In this space, proximity is part of the design. Rather than maintaining a traditional performer–audience divide, Reed favors closeness, inviting vulnerability and shared presence.

Performing solo, Reed will incorporate hand-built sculptural instruments alongside more traditional tools. The set is expected to reflect the dual architecture of Cuntry, moving from acoustic-driven protest songs to electronically driven compositions shaped by global collaborations. In the Lab’s compact setting, that dynamic shift promises to feel especially visceral.

For audiences familiar with Reed’s conceptual work, this performance offers a distilled encounter with core ideas. For those discovering Reed for the first time, it is an opportunity to experience American folk traditions refracted through a contemporary, boundary-pushing lens.

Show Details

Artist: Cleo Reed
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Venue: SFJAZZ Center, Joe Henderson Lab
Address: 201 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA 94102
Tickets: Available at SFJAZZ.org