When I started playing guitar Carlos Santana was like ... goodbye! Santana, Hendrix, and just really odd players. I loved Jan Ackerman from Focus. T-Bone Walker was someone I loved, B. B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, and then Bill Conners, who was the first guitarist from Return To Forever. And John McLaughlin.
I have to mention Freddie Stone from Sly and the Family Stone, Jimmy Nolan who played with James Brown, and Eddie Hazel who played with Funkadelic. Let’s see, Ernie Isley who played with the Isley Brothers. Robert Fripp is definitely another one who I would consider an influence.
And then there are many people that just came on down through the years, like Allan Holdsworth. Then there’s a kind of a funny bouncing back and forth between, from the blues people and the rock people and the various incarnations in between, various mixings and matchings. I think one of the great losses was Tommy Bolin, who was a wonderful guitarist, played with James Gang, he played with Deep Purple for a short time and actually played on one of the greatest jazz/rock records, Billy Cobham’s Spectrum.
I could go on and on and on and on with different people (who were influential to me) like from Sonny Sharrock and James Blood Ulmer. I am not a person who had turned around and stopped liking funk. Some people outgrow it—they go "Oh yeah, you know, yeah, I used to be into that." Well, I still like what I like. The only thing is I found other things and heard other things and that just added to it. It’s funny because the things that I like go from very, very conventional pop type of things to the most extremely avant-garde, like Derek Bailey and Hans Reichel. We just lost Derek Bailey recently. Hans Reichel. He’s a German guitarist who played a guitar with like this weird movable bridge ... very, very out there, very good. Great, great player. And then, people like Egberto Gismonti, a great Brazilian guitarist/pianist. Hound Dog Taylor is one of my favorites. He used this raw dog blues, you know. And Lightning Hopkins. So, it goes, it runs a pretty far gamut. To me, there’s something that runs through these different styles.
Vernon's myspace was deleted in the spring of 2007. All mail was lost, friends, comments, blog comments etc... We've resurrected most of the blogs though! Thanks for the love, support and patience and be prepared for some interesting tunes in the music player.
"Masque is about identity: Who am I? Really, that question has informed everything I've done, from the beginning of my solo career."
Webster's Dictionary defines an artist as "one who professes and practices an imaginative art; a person skilled in one of the fine arts; a skilled performer." By any of these definitions, guitarist and composer Vernon Reid is a true artist, one whose art is a work forever in progress, from his formative years on the downtown New York jazz/funk/punk scene with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society, to his leadership of the pioneering multi-platinum rock band Living Colour, to his collaborations with creative spirits ranging from guitarist Carlos Santana and African singer Salif Keita to choreographers Bill T. Jones and Donald Byrd.
Vernon Reid is probably best known for leading Living Colour. Vernon founded Living Colour in New York City circa 1985 and piloted the band through a remarkable career. Among the highlights: a double platinum-selling debut album Vivid, released in 1988; its gold-certified successor, Time's Up, released 1990; two consecutive Grammy Awards in the category of Best Hard Rock Performance; opening for the Rolling Stones' 1989 "Steel Wheels" tour; and appearing on the first Lollapalooza tour in the summer of 1991. Vernon is thrilled to be working with Living Colour again and is extremely proud of their new album Collidescope, which was released in October of 2003 on Sanctuary Records.
In addition to Living Colour, Vernon has been engaged his usual panoply of activities. He released "Mistaken Identity", his first solo album in 1996 and has collaborated with the choreographers Bill T. Jones on "Still/Here" and Donald Byrd on "Jazztrain". He performed "Party 'Til The End of Time" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) with The Roots, an end of the millennium tribute featuring the music of Prince's album "1999". He also composed and performed "Bring Your Beats" a children's program for BAM. Vernon has also produced records by Resort (a Mexican hard rock group) and two Grammy nominated albums: "Papa" by the great African singer Salif Keita and "Memphis Blood: The Sun Studio Sessions" by James "Blood" Ulmer. Blood's most recent album, released in September of 2003, "No Escape From the Blues", was also produced by Vernon Reid. He also appears on "Guitar Oblique" (Knitting Factory Records) with guitarists David Torn and Elliot Sharp. Vernon was also featured in the program presented by BAM and the Experience Music Project in Seattle entitled "Magic Science", which includes Medesky, Martin & Wood and the Gil Evans Orchestra performing Gil Evans' arrangements of songs by Jimi Hendrix.
Vernon composed the score for the film "Paid In Full", directed by Charles Stone III (well known for creating the "Wasssup!" series of commercials for Budweiser as well as directing three videos for Living Colour) and released by Miramax in the fall of 2002. Vernon also composed the score for the celebrated documentary "Ghosts of Attica" which aired on Court TV in the fall of 2001 and has been featured at several film festivals.
Vernon along with DJ Logic, calling themselves "The Yohimbe Brothers", released an album in September, 2002, "Front End Lifter", The Yohimbe Bros. been touring on and off since the release of the album. Vernon is also the music supervisor for the film "Mr. 3000" starring Bernie Mac and directed by Charles Stone III; "Mr. 3000" is scheduled for release in the fall of 2004. Vernon's album with Masque (Leon Gruenbaum - keyboards, Hank Schroy - bass and Marlon Browden - drums), an instrumental album entitled "Known Unknown", was released in April 2004 on Favored Nations records.
The Grammy Award winning guitarist and his band Masque present a collection of 13 new songs. "Other True Self" is a sonic kaleidoscope, a tumble of colors and a whirl of astonishing visions that expose a vivid personal landscape and illuminates one or another side of Vernon Reid, was released on April 18, 2006.
*please note that this site is maintained by Vernon Reid and Tim E. Please be extremely patient w/ email responses as Vernon IS constantly on the go w/ music, art, and family life
As stated by Vernon on June 23, 2006 - "....Also I was thinking of letting folks know that I'm cool with taping Masque shows strictly by live taping guidelines (non-commercial trading is okay, no selling, etc.)"
Hey Vernon! It was a great concert in Berlin and it was great to meet you there! I like the new LC-Album a lot,especially you're Guitarwork on "Behind the sun"! What do you think of the new GR4,please let me know all the goods and bads! I hope your tour is still running well and the fans are as enthusiastic as in Berlin! Please say hello to everyone,especially to Dennis!He's a great guy...
Me and brother Lee absolutely loved the show last night Vernon. Looked like you'd all had a day of laughter with the banter between you and Corey. The new songs were tight - personal fave was 'Out Of My Mind.' Couldn't quite get a shot of Doug's playing in the audience cos I was front left so hope to see some soon. Will tweet when I've uploaded what I've got.
Elvis is dead. Living Colour are very much alive and the best band on the planet. x
Your energy is what most have engaged me in listening to your playing, is old and new simultameously. As a guitar player I can say you are one of my references, although it might not seem obvious. Perhaps we might meet one day. All the best
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