For most people, the search for one's identity and purpose in the world is a lifelong ambition; and whether it's manifested in the field of education, science, art, writing or activism, the general consensus is that it involves a force bigger than one's self.
For guitar virtuoso Vernon Reid, the task of answering the ubiquitous question of “Who am I?” has been on his mind his entire career.
Although born in England, Reid grew up in one of New York's five boroughs, Brooklyn, where he listened to a variety of musicians and later attended Brooklyn Tech where he studied with jazz legends Rodney Jones and Ted Dunbar.
In the 1980s, Reid founded the trio Living Colour, a two-time Grammy Award-winning group, and has also sat in with musicians as diverse as his tastes from Carlos Santana to Mariah Carey to the Ramones to Public Enemy.
In 1985, Reid established the Black Rock Coalition with journalist Greg Tate and producer Konda Mason, a group of creative, like-minded people who support and gain exposure for “black artists who defy convention,” according to the coalition's Web site.
Reid also dabbles in visual arts and his work was on display in a New York City gallery this past winter. He enjoys writing poems and essays, and being a father to his 3-year-old girl.
Reid's latest album, “Other True Self,” which is the second installment with what one would assume is the name of the ensemble, Masque, was put out on the Favored Nations label. The first album with Masque titled, “Known Unknown” followed Reid's debut work “Mistaken Identity.”
The songs from “Other True Self” range in grooves, melodies and flavors synonymous with reggae, Latin and Middle Eastern compositions. Reid even incorporates a few covers on the work, including Radiohead's “National Anthem” off its “Kid A” record, a band that reignited Reid's interest in alternative rock since the breakup of Soundgarden.
Reid, who is playing at the Catalina Bar & Grill this weekend, recently spoke with The Beach Reporter about his work, style and covering Radiohead.
The Beach Reporter: How do you create a balance on your albums that has interest for both guitar buffs and the average listener?
Reid: Part of it is being connected to what I am a fan of, things that I like, in players of the instruments and hoping that I can do some of what that is. I think you have to have a context. I really don't like the idea of existing only to show shredding. I think it's so very old. The instrument is interestingly taken in so many directions and there are so many styles. The thing that has always interested me is the people who have done something that transcend what the style is. There is something about Jeff Beck's playing in that you know he is a rock guy, but there is something about what he does that is magical. With Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton, the thing that I like about those guys is that whatever was going to be was going to be. With Jeff Beck, he is showing it real raw, as himself. I think there is a sense of carefulness now, not to look bad and to make sure your playing is kind of perfect, and I don't know about that, I came up with people like Beck, Hendrix and Santana. I don't want to sidestep the fact of playing with passion or getting emotionally caught up or playing fast, it is thrilling, but they say there is a balance and tension between that.
What has been the biggest lesson that music has taught you?
Well, it's that music is bigger that any musician and I can speak for myself in this regard. It's a combination of really preparing and then letting go and then getting out of the way. It's sort of like you practice, you rehearse and all of those things, and then letting go and getting out of the way. When I go on stage, I want to play well and I want people to like me, those are all kind of razor-wire obstacles to ‘the thing' actually happening. Some people manage to get around that because they do everything controlled and tightly choreographed so there is no chance. But in playing with such great musicians, I've seen that chance in the abstract is part of it. We also know in life, there are bizarre unexplainable things that happen and we can't explain why, and so you can't abide by trying to control every little thing.
You cover Radiohead, and over the years the group's songs have been covered by a number of diverse musicians. For you personally, what does the music of this group do to you?
It's funny because with Radiohead, if you think about a work like ‘Creep' and go from there to ‘Amnesiac,' that is an extraordinary evolution. They are a very musical ensemble, one of the very few that have evolved and changed so radically. I remember reading something from a critic, who was not a fan, talking about how Radiohead was simply Pink Floyd. I just thought the comment was ludicrous, but I thought interesting because when you think about Pink Floyd records like ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn' or ‘Umma Gumma' the band evolved from this into a much more pop sort of thing by the time they got to ‘Dark Side of the Moon.' In fact, Radiohead has had an almost opposite evolution.
I agree, and what's incredible is that the fans just go nuts for all of it.
Yes, that is the extraordinary thing. After Soundgarden broke up, I was kind of done with rock, that was my favorite band, and it just kind of crushed me. Of course, there were things going, the new metal thing was rising up, all the post-Korn bands were emerging. But Radiohead, ‘OK Computer,' they just came up with something so incredibly mournful, so elegiac and so musical. I think (guitarist) Johnny Greenwood is an extraordinary musician, and I think they brought back the idea that these things are possible. I am an unabashed fan and I think that ‘Amnesiac' has not gotten the kind of ‘props' that it deserves. The songs on it are outstanding and I have to admit that I didn't get it at first.
Well, then what happened for you?
I had an epiphany. That's the thing about music, I feel like we are so trained to get it immediately, ‘I want to get it and I want to understand it.' Š I think that musicians who dip back into mystery - not explaining everything and not doing focus groups on every single is what's it's all about. I think music has to get back to that.
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