Reid Anderson is a bassist and composer from Minnesota, United States, born in 1970. He is best known as a member of The Bad Plus, alongside pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer Dave King. He also records on Dirty Showtunes Music and works within jazz.

Work with The Bad Plus

Anderson has played with The Bad Plus since 1990. In 2003, the group releases its major-label debut, These Are the Vistas, on Columbia Records, and the band continues to build its profile after that point.

Earlier recordings and projects

In 1998, Anderson releases Dirty Show Tunes with a quartet that includes Ethan Iverson, Jorge Rossy and Mark Turner. The album receives strong critical and popular attention within the jazz community. A year later, he releases Abolish Bad Architecture with Jeff Ballard replacing Rossy on drums. That recording attracts even more notice, and Ballard and Turner later go on to form Fly with bassist Reid Anderson connected to the same scene.

In 2000, Anderson releases The Vastness of Space with Andrew D'Angelo, Bill McHenry, Ben Monder and Marlon Browden. This album places greater emphasis on composition than improvisation. Its melodic material also points towards the genre-blending approach that later underpins The Bad Plus. Two pieces from the record, “Prehensile Dream” and “Silence Is the Question,” later become favourites in The Bad Plus repertoire.