On Mondays at 3:30 p.m., Bond Chapel would fill with some “regulars,” but Reed says the large majority of people dropped by out of sheer curiosity.
“That’s what I hoped for, partly because I think Bach’s organ music helps break expectations about what organ music sounds like,” Reed said. “My favorite Bach is basically imitating orchestral music like Vivaldi, or chamber music. It's much more playful.”
Playful is also how some of his fans have described his weekly program notes. In lieu of traditional printed programs, Reed directed audience members to his Substack: Left on Reed (a triple pun).
For every recital, Reed wrote extensive commentaries about each piece, blending musical theory with wry observations. For example, in describing Bach’s F-minor Prelude and Fugue, Reed wrote: “All in all, the piece is a nice combination of harmonic crunchiness, jagged melodic lines, propulsive rhythms, and great dramatic pacing. To risk an analogy: even if you scramble the eggs, you can still make something very tasty out of your attempt at spaghetti carbonara, as long as the ingredients were right.”
Readers also received Reed’s weekly listening recommendations far beyond Bach—from Indigenous singer-songwriters to choral chamber music to K-pop.
“Jacob’s knowledge was so extensive, but there was nothing stuffy in his approach,” said regular attendee Lynne Schatz. “It was really an invitation to learn more, and I thought that was fabulous.”
Reed admits that his organ technique has improved since starting the series, but the real learning moment was fine-tuning his ability to write about music—to pinpoint how and why a piece is good.
He was also pleasantly surprised at the healthy audience the series and blog generated.
“I've definitely gotten comments from people saying: This isn't something I necessarily listen to, but man, that last piece—that was fun,” Reed said. “And that's the best thing I could possibly hope for.”