Jazz Articles about Vernon Reid

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M. E. B.: That You Not Dare To Forget

by Doug Collette
May 8, 2023

With all due respect to Lettuce's A Tribute to Miles Davis--Witches Stew (Self Produced, 2017) and the all-star ensemble dubbed Bitches Brew Revisited, M.E.B. (formerly known as Miles Electric Band) is an inordinately creative homage to Miles Davis. And given the continually experimental path The “Man With The Horn" chose to follow throughout his career, it is no doubt one of which he would approve. That You Not Dare To Forget is a slightly less than half-hour audio ...

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Nate Smith: Kinfolk 2: See The Birds

by Mark Corroto
September 10, 2021

If there were brick & mortar establishments called record stores today, one could imagine the challenge Nate Smith's Kinfolk projects would pose for an employee trying to file his latest releases. Those familiar with the drummer's work in the bands of Chris Potter, Dave Holland, or Alex Sipiagin might place the discs in the jazz section, but then again he's worked with the jazz/pop/soul singers José James and Norah Jones and he heads up the funk/soul band The Fearless Flyers. ...

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Free Form Funk Freqs: Urban Mythology Volume One

by James Taylor
February 21, 2008

Guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer G. Calvin Weston give the power trio new meaning with Urban Mythology Volume One. Released under the moniker the Free Form Funk Freqs, the album is less jazz and more improvisational rock, powered by Weston's double bass drum and heavy crash, hard rock approach and Reid's space-bending, delay-loving fretwork.The awesome impact of the trio is also shaped by Tacuma's ability to take a repetitive funk form and keep it interesting--by ...

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Vernon Reid & Masque: Other True Self

by John Kelman
August 11, 2006

Vernon Reid has been always been a stylistic chameleon. Straddling many musical worlds, he's just as likely to record with Public Enemy as James Blood Ulmer, Jack Bruce or Lafayette Gilchrist. With a general approach best described as metal-edged reckless abandon, he proves on Other True Self that, as always, he's still capable of much more.

Reid's previous album with Masque, Known Unknown (Favored Nations, 2004), sported a completely different lineup than the group's debut, Mistaken Identity (Sony, 1996). This ...

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Vernon Reid & Masque: Known Unknown

by John Kelman
April 11, 2004

A member of the Downtown New York scene for many years, guitarist Vernon Reid is better known for his genre-blasting work with Living Color. Still, over the years he has collaborated with such a wide variety of artists including Bill Frisell, David Torn and, most notably, Ronald Shannon Jackson that it is difficult to peg down exactly what he is about; or is it? With Known Unknown , his second recording with his group Masque, Reid demonstrates one of the ...

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Vernon Reid, Elliot Sharp, David Torn: GTR OBLQ

by Glenn Astarita
December 1, 1998

Guitar summits take on new connotations with the advent of GTR OBLQ. Recorded live in New York's Knitting Factory, GTR OBLQ takes us into the 21st Century with digital loops, limitless EFX, electronic rhythms, sonic mayhem and stunning electric guitar expertise by Elliot Sharp, David Torn and Vernon Reid. Much anticipation has surrounded the release of this cd and essentially, the end product is what this reviewer mentally prepared for. GTR OBLQ is a staggering exhibition of ...