Some people are lucky: They
experience a moment where they realize rock ‘n’ roll can save their lives. You
can sit down with a lot of music fans and let them tell you the time they first
heard this band, or how their older sibling got them into that band, and the
nutty things they’ve done to show their affection.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Take
all those hippies chasing down the Grateful Dead, for example. I know a girl
who turned down a date to her eighth-grade dance with the cutest, baddest boy
in school so she could go see dorky, whiny Paul Simon. There’s a higher calling
out there, and a lot of us are fortunate enough to hear it. For Vernon Reid,
his family offered an entire childhood of these moments. His affection for the
form turned into a life as one of rock’s most well respected guitar players.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I
always remember hearing music when I was a child,” he says. “My parents played
a lot of music, they were avid record listeners. I remember the first time I
heard Led Zeppelin, I remember the first time I heard Santana, I remember the
first time I heard Sly Stone. Hearing ‘Whole Lotta Love,’ hearing ‘Black Magic
Woman,’ hearing ‘Family Affair.'”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย At
age 15, Vernon Reid got a guitar from his cousin John, after a conversation
about music. “I guess he was impressed by my… obsession with [music], and he
said, ‘Well I got this old guitar I don’t play anymore, you can have it.’ And
that changed my life.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย A
few years later Vernon Reid’s interest in harmolodic jazz (which allmusic.com
describes as: “essentially everybody solos at once”) led to his joining Ronald
Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, which also featured such esteemed
improvisers as saxophonist Zane Massey and violinist Billy Bang.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “My
life was… part of free jazz, and harmolodic jazz, but it was also attached to
funk,” he says. “Rock ‘n’ roll was something that, I felt, could bring
everything together, ’cause rock bands did everything. I only found out later
on that there was separate situations… the separation that people have, ‘this
is black music, this is white music,’ I didn’t grow up with that. As a listener
I didn’t make those separations.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย After
working with artists ranging from Bill Frisell to Public Enemy, Vernon Reid
formed Living Colour in 1983, a band that would bring his dream of
category-less rock ‘n’ roll, as well as a strong sociopolitical bent, to the
mainstream. After a personnel change or two, the band landed its first major
advocate: The Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger found the band playing New York’s
CBGB in 1986.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Jagger
chaperoned a deal for the band, and Living Colour became, as Rolling Stone magazine said, “The black
Led Zeppelin,” garnering critical acclaim and a few Grammies to boot. “Cult of
Personality,” off 1988’s Vivid, will
no doubt be their legacy to the music world, but 1990’s Time’s Up is like having an entire record store in one album.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Living
Colour was what I dreamed about when I first picked up the guitar,” he says.
“It was my dream, and it became the dream of the people that became part of the
band, and it also became a dream for the fans. It was weird. It had a life
beyond me, whatever its merits and faults.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Living
Colour’s success also helped Vernon Reid get the Black Rock Coalition on its
feet, which opened the doors for many black rock ‘n’ roll artists pursuing the
same dream as Reid.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
band released one more album — 1993’s dark, introspective Stain — before splitting up, freeing
up Reid’s time to pursue various experiments. 1996’s Mistaken Identity was Reid’s first solo outing. Co-produced by the
mighty Prince Paul and Teo Macero, Reid encompassed myriad musical styles and
his trademark special effects, along with a tongue-in-cheek humor that makes
the album much more pleasing to the ear.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Since
then, Vernon Reid has continued to break down the distance between genres. As
opposed to Guitar Olympians like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, Reid’s
open-mindedness takes him to places beyond such silly self-gratification as Vai
and Satriani’s “G3” tour. He helped compose music for Bill T. Jones’ ballet
“Still / Here,” which addressed the AIDS epidemic. He’s produced albums for
Salif Keita and James “Blood” Ulmer, while composing film and documentary
scores. With each project, he tries to bring something new to the audience.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “You
need to capture the public’s imagination,” he says, “and bring forth something
— whether it’s novel or profound — that people really don’t have the ability
to express. Mistaken Identity and, to
a certain degree, the Masque project, and even My Science Project [an unrecorded project], all of those were an
inquiry into the nature of my reality, identity, and the nature of fear, and
the nature of what’s next.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In
2000, the members of Living Colour answered years of “Are you guys ever getting
back together?” by regrouping to produce last year’s dense and cacophonic Collideoscope. Teaming up with long-time
collaborator DJ Logic, Reid is currently working on the second Yohimbe
Brother’s album (the quirky and fun Front
End Lifter came out in 2002).
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Earlier
this month, Vernon Reid released Known
Unknown, with his band du jour, Masque. If Collideoscope speaks to Vernon Reid’s sociopolitical side of rock
riffs and power chord mania, then Known
Unknown is his vacation album. Breezy while still distinctly from
Vernonland, the instrumental album is one that again brings all Reid’s musical
influences into one showcase.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “With
Known Unknown, I’m working with this
wonderful keyboardist Leon Gruenbaum…. We share the harmonic space. Our drummer
Marlon Browden… is a very different drummer than [Living Colour drummer] Will
Calhoun. They’re both tremendous drummers, but they’re almost completely
opposite.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Even
though making another Masque recording… had its own intensity,” he continues,
“there was a lightness of spirit about that record. [With the last Living
Colour record] I kinda wished that we could have just relaxed into just making
‘our next record.’ Not attempting to make the penultimate record. [With Known Unknown] my spirit wasn’t as
burdened.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Vernon
Reid maintains that, among other things, Living Colour will return. In the
meantime he will continue to bring the rock ‘n’ roll classlessness of his
upbringing to the ears of his fans, whether they enjoy his life as Living
Colour’s guitarist, or as a solo artist, or as a social activist, or as a
producer.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “I
actually asked [Cream founder] Jack Bruce about all of [his] projects,” Reid
says. “I asked him about [his career] and I said, ‘man, how do you reconcile
all of that and all the stuff in between?’ And he said, ‘Well, you know Vernon,
we live so many lives inside of one life.’ And I think that’s really true.”
Vernon
Reid plays two shows Saturday, May 22, at The Montage Grille, 50 Chestnut
Street, at 6:30 and 9:30 pm. Tickets: $22. 232-8380.
This article appears in May 19-25, 2004.
