He passed away yesterday, October 9, at age 89 in the Chemung County Nursing Facility in Elmira following a long illness.

A New York City native, George Reed played all over the world for many years. He used his experience to become a mentor to many young musicians.

Saxophone and clarinet teacher Duvid Smering, who played with George Reed for more than a decade said about the drummer:

"George challenged everybody to play music and understand the fundamentals of music and not just play a lot of notes. He was exactly the kind of guy that you want to learn from."

Watch George Reed perform with Harry Aceto and Jeff Hackworth at Elmira NY's jazz venue Green Pastures in January 2010: