Aloha! Brian Reed was my best friend.
It's been a year since his passing & the void left still hurts like hell. I still can't believe he's gone. Brian will always be in my heart & soul.
Like most people who met him, Brian was someone with whom you could connect instantly, and across so many levels & interests & experiences. He was amazingly bright, completely creative, intuitive, unfailingly generous & was one of the funniest people I have ever met. I remember all the little noises & imitations he would pull out at times, "Maddy! Maddy! (in a high-ptiched voice describing our friend's dog). And he appreciated mine as well. Sam Kinison, Rodney - B-Man loved them all.
Perhaps his coolest quality was that Brian Reed was always the coolest person in any room or situation, no matter the circumstances. Yet he was also among the most humble & unaffected people I've ever met. That's a rare combination of qualities in any one person. He was unflappable, yet he didn't take himself too seriously, & saw all the ironies of life. Brian was the best of friend to many different kinds of people all over the world.
Of course, playing the blues on his custom harps was his passion. The old saying is that everybody knows that "how you play is who you are." He & I played a Greenpeace Benefit gig when we first met in the early 80's. He killed it! The reason why everyone wanted to play with Brian was because, the way he saw it, his job was to make you & the music better. Completely unselfish as a musician. And the B-Man could really blow the harp. Yet he always held back when playing with others whom he sensed needed the limelight more than he.
In the last 12-15 years, Brian spent more time away from the Islands, preferring the Old World grace, refinement & intelligence of Europa. When he'd come back, he could just click in with you in an instant, with a laugh, a song, an unique observation, an invite to share music, a joke, or a new photo to give you. Brian was our lives' chronicler/photographer for decades! And he was the only non-classical musician I've ever met who, for decades, always improved his skill level on his instrument every year!
When he'd come back from Sweden or wherever, he'd always flash a new lick or combo that would blow me away. Amazing! He loved all kinds of music & musicians. And my music collection is primarily made up of his suggestions or copies he made - even of me playing gigs.. "Hey Oz, check this out."
When Brian worked for Woodstock Productions, he'd often send me a picture of a landmark in the locations he worked - asking me to 'guess where this is?' For decades, out of the blue, I'd get a picture from the cross-walk at Abbey Roads, the upper level walkway of the Brooklyn bridge, a canal in the red-light district of St. Petersburg, a bench in Florence's Boboli Gardens, a city-wide flamenco convention shot of the train station in Madrid, or of an elephant in South Africa "smiling" at his camera. But the obvious clues were always hidden by Brian's intelligence & creative picture taking. He did this with all of his friends & family. It's a wonder he had time to do anything else. We were all so blessed by Brian Reed & his 'Right Eye.'. He was also the first among my friends to embrace computers & digital recording.
In the last month of his life, Brian imparted some amazing lessons with such grace to each of us. He made time for everyone, even as his pain was often terrible & his well-wishers almost smothering him with all the love - the line going out the door some days.
The last wisdom that Brian shared with me & our close visiting friend Ira (besides some songs) was: Don't be afraid of death. The secret of life is knowing that it's all, all about love. Soon, I & each of us will be a part of everything. Nothing else really matters." He was completely clear on everything. He was still the coolest guy in the room.
Love You B-Man Mahalo a Nui - Forever!
Chris Oswald
5-12-19
