By: David Schultz

On the night before Halloween, Metallica, Aretha Franklin, Jeff Beck and U2 held court at Madison Square Garden as part of the second night of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary celebration. Only a few blocks south, Living Colour, one of the truly great rock bands of our generation, reminded a sold-out crowd at New York City’s HighLine Ballroom that sometimes fate can be fickle. Boasting guitarist Vernon Reid, lead singer Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish, the wickedly talented New York band surely was skilled enough to earn the same esteem as the bands headlining MSG, the stars just never lined up properly. Whatever intangible quality impels a band into that stratosphere seemed to lose its momentum for Living Colour shortly after the success of “Cult Of Personality” and Time’s Up.

Accolades and awards may have escaped Living Colour . . . so far. They eluded other New York bands like The Ramones and The Velvet Underground until much later too. At the HighLine, Living Colour wound down a two month long U.S. tour with a show for their hometown fans. Over two hours, they intertwined material from their recently released The Chair In The Doorway with Vivid’s “Middle Man” and “Elvis Is Dead” (with a nice segue into The King’s “Hound Dog”), Time’s Up’s “Type” and “Love Rears Up Its Ugly Head” and Stain’s “Bi.”

Most remarkably, Corey Glover’s voice hasn’t weakened at all. Whether he’s a freak of nature or just reaping the benefits of his time with the touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar, the animated lead singer prowled the stage in a butcher’s apron, offering a captivating a capella intro to “Open Letter (To A Landlord)” and never wavering during the fevered vocals on songs like “The Chair,” “Go Away” and “Out Of My Mind.” Whether he’s tapping out the riff to “Behind The Sun,” cranking out the blues on “Bless Those,” making Motown seem easy on “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” or rousing the crowd with the solo of “Cult Of Personality,” Reid does things with his guitar that simply defy belief. Similarly, Calhoun’s drum solos remain wondrous, a blend of traditional drums and newfangled electronic innovation. Not to be left behind, Wimbish leapt off the stage and to show that no trickery was involved played bass with his teeth from amidst the crowd.

IF YOU REGULARLY READ MY ramblings here on the site, you're probably familiar with my feelings over Living Colour's recent return. At the end of the summer, I interviewed Corey Glover for Hidden Track magazine and made it to Brooklyn for a performance at their rehearsal studio where they debuted The Chair In The Doorway for friends and family. We reviewed the album as well.

Labels: Living Colour

By: David Schultz

The departure of original bassist Muzz Skillings, brought about dramatic changes in Living Colour, ones still felt more than a decade later. Going beyond the superficial differences between Skillings and Doug Wimbish, Stain and Collideoscope, Living Colour’s first two albums with Wimbish, contained a much harder edge than Vivid and Time’s Up, the albums that launched the band to national prominence. Many of fans that found themselves initially attracted to Living Colour’s wicked blend of New York funk, screeching Hendrix-quality guitar riffs and sociopolitical dialectic fell to the wayside as the music became heavier, the viewpoints less poignant and the wide variety of influences becoming slightly more narrow.

On The Chair In The Doorway, their fifth studio album and first in more than five years, Living Colour recaptures much of what their initial efforts such eye-opening and revelatory affairs. For the opening few songs, Living Colour picks up where they left off: Wimbish and drummer Will Calhoun continued to operate at a level of speed and sophistication that can get lost within the heft of their play, Vernon Reid’s crunches through the avant-metal riffs that have become his calling card and Corey Glover offers his customary array of trenchant observations, even interjecting a little humor into “Young Man.”

At the literal and figurative heart of the album, Living Colour strikes those chords that continue to make them an intriguing band. Living Color plays host to four of the greatest musicians to ever choose rock music as their forte but their strongest quality remains their heart, their warmth and their passion. On “Behind The Sun,” Reid taps out one of his finest guitar riffs, an intricate spiral that melds with Glover’s empathic vocals for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. On “Not Tomorrow,” the near-raga beat swirls beneath one of Glover’s most powerful vocal performances. “Bless Those,” a cocky blues strut that finds Reid channeling the masters of the slide guitar, will say with you simply for the reason that its one of the few songs where Living Colour seems to set their burdens aside and simply have fun.

Labels: Living Colour

By: David Schultz

As the kids would say, The Chair In The Doorway, Living Colour's fifth studio album dropped yesterday (yes, I am aware the kids would have said it like that a couple years ago). The day before they showcased the album for friends, family and press, I interviewed Corey Glover for Hidden Track at their Brooklyn rehearsal studio.

A proper write-up of the album will come at a later date. For now, click on over to Hidden Track and see what Corey had to say.

THIS PAST WEEKEND, TREY ANASTASIO teamed up with the New York Philharmonic for a show at the venerable Carnegie Hall. Getting past the proliferation of nitrous oxide being blatantly hawked outside the theater (this is a story that you are going to hear a lot about in the near future), Anastasio and the orchestra came up with an awesome arrangement of the Phish warhorse "You Enjoy Myself." Apparently there are some issues with what versions of the video are YouTubeable, but Justin Ward over at Live Music Blog seems to be on top of what's what. Check it out here.

RUMOR HAS IT THAT PAVEMENT will reunite in 2010. If this happens, it will be salivated over to a degree that exceeds its actual import as everyone overhypes the return that not many paid attention to when they were around. Nonetheless, this is a good thing.

OBAMA CALLED KANYE WEST A JACKASS . . . and that makes news? What's next? Do we stop the presses if he calls Angelina Jolie hot?

Labels: Living Colour, Pavement, Phish, Trey Anastasio

By: David Schultz

On the strength of Vivid and Time’s Up, Living Colour became one the handful of bands from the peak of the MTV era to couple critical acclaim with widespread mainstream success. Not only did they catch the attention of Mick Jagger and open numerous stadium shows on The Rolling Stones'Steel Wheels tour, Living Colour was a main cog in the initial Lollapalooza tour which laid the groundwork for the modern festival scene. Right around the time when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the rest of the grunge rockers emerged from the Pacific Northwest, the keys to the rock and roll kingdom were unquestionably within Living Colour’s reach. In a tragedy of Shakespearean proportion, right when the world was at their fingertips, Living Colour ceased to exist. They would return in the summer of 2001, creating a stir with a massively attended free show at Central Park’s Summerstage, but by the time they released Collideoscope, their 2003 comeback album, they had to rebuild their momentum from a near standstill. That process of reestablishing their foothold continues this fall: on September 1, Living Colour will embark on their first significant tour of the United States in many years and on September 15, Megaforce Records will release The Chair In The Doorway, their first studio album in six years.

In preparation for their upcoming tour, Living Colour played a short set as part of The Roots weekly jam session at New York City’s Highline Ballroom. In addition to previewing "Behind The Sun" (download free mp3 here!), “DecaDance” and “Bless Those” from the new album, they reemerged to join The Roots for a collection of Sly & The Family Stone songs. In playing until the wee hours of the morning, Living Colour reminded everyone of their nonpareil talent. Last Thursday, the band gathered an assemblage of family, friends and press at their studio in Prospect Heights in Brooklyn to introduce The Chair In The Doorway on a personal basis, playing it in its entirety in an intimate setting.

If anyone had reservations about whether Living Colour had toned down their sound for this album, the presence of a gigantic punchbowl filled with earplugs at the entrance to the studio immediately erased any doubts. Lead singer Corey Glover even referenced the fact, reminding everyone: “We are Living Colour and yes, we’re still loud.” Fresh off a lengthy stint with the touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar, Glover’s voice is as strong as ever. A good portion of Chair retains the heavy, hard rock sound that has been the band’s calling card since Stain, their first album with bassist Doug Wimbish. The album’s also replete with the sociological and political commentary that marks their most incisive work. Where Collideoscope pushed steadily forward at a relentless pace, Chair has more variety. The heaviness of “DecaDance” and “The Chair” yields to the crackling upbeat pulse of “Behind The Sun” and guitarist Vernon Reid’s mesmerizing guitar riff, which he taps out with three fingers on the fret, before giving in to the blues-tinged “Bless Those,” one of the two songs on which Reid shows off his master-level slide guitar skills. There’s even a bit of a disco twist – Living Colour style – at the end of “Young Man.”

The showcase was not without its emotional moments. Before “Out Of Mind” (or possibly “Not Tomorrow”), Reid explained that during the recording of the song they learned that Glover’s mother had passed away and dedicated the song to her memory. In the midst of the song, Glover became overwrought with emotion. The band played through, allowing the singer a moment to compose himself, and after an affectionate hug from Wimbish, who radiates enough positive energy to single-handedly bring about the peaceful revolution contemplated by the Woodstock generation, Glover launched back into the song with out a waver in his voice.

After concluding the night with a strong rendition of “Asshole,” to which they suggested the kids in the crowd not pay too much attention, drummer Will Calhoun’s son interrupted Reid’s closing remarks by calling for one more song. When asked by Reid what he wanted to hear, he requested “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” which prompted Glover to jokingly chide the elder Calhoun about his son not wanting to hear one of their songs. Refusing to quash a child’s initiative, the band played The Clash song in their own inimitable manner.

Many of the songs on The Chair In The Doorway have yet to be aired out in public so last week’s showcase not only served as a preview of the new album but also a dress rehearsal of sorts. With the tour about to start and the album’s release a couple weeks off, it’s unclear whether Living Colour’s return will be met with the excitement it deserves. Reid, Wimbish and Calhoun can all lay credible claims to being the best in their field. In fact, when you get down to it, Calhoun and Wimbish remain one of the best rhythm sections in the world. You would be hard pressed to come up with a better tandem. Even if you think you have, you haven’t. When you factor in Glover, one of the stronger and more charismatic lead singers to ever front a band, once again people’s favorite color should be Living Colour.

Labels: Live Reviews, Living Colour, Mp3s

By: David Schultz

On September 15, The Chair In The Doorway, the first studio album from Living Colour since 2003, will hit stores (or what passes for a record store these days). To whet appetites for the return of one of the greatest and often unsung bands of the pre-Grunge era, Living Colour has made one track, "Behind The Sun" available well ahead of the album's release.

If the song is any indication of the rest of the album, it marks a departure from the booming, avant-metal scree that permeated healthy portions of Stain and Collideoscope, the two Living Colour albums with current bassist Doug Wimbish. While not as funky as "Glamour Boys," "Behind The Sun" echoes back to the brashness of Vivid, their eye-opening debut; Corey Glover's voice sounds as strong and crisp as ever and with Wimbish, Vernon Reid and Will Calhoun, you get three artists who can be called the best at what they do.

However, why talk about it when you can download it and enjoy it yourself.

Labels: Living Colour

By: David Schultz

In the spring of 2006, I interviewed Vernon Reid in conjunction with the release of Masque’s Other True Self. Being a tremendous Living Colour fan, I couldn’t help but inquire about whether the band that had such an influence on my taste in music had anything planned for the future. Reid’s response was a question in itself: does Living Colour have anything else to say? It appears that the answer is a resounding “Yes!” On September 15, Living Colour will release The Chair In The Doorway, their first studio album since 2003’s Collideoscope, and will follow it up with a world tour, which will include a trek across North America.

Though a reunion of sorts, it’s more of a return. After splitting in 1995, Reid, Corey Glover, Doug Wimbish and Will Calhoun truly reunited in 2000 and found a renewed purpose in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks; as a New York band, they had something to say. Living Colour also returned to CBGB, one of the venue’s that allowed the fledgling band room to spread their wings, to play a benefit in an effort to keep the legendary club from closing. With Corey Glover occupied with his role as Judas in a national touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar for the past 2 ½ years, any true Living Colour plans were placed on hold until now, although they did play a benefit show in support of Barack Obama’s candidacy at Le Poisson Rouge in September of 2008.

If Living Colour has something to say, there’s no question that it will be worth listening.

Labels: Living Colour

After months of legal wrangling and bitter negotiations, CBGB will finally be closing their doors at the end of September. The club plans to announce their final performances in the near future and speculation is that many artists who helped build the club's reputation will return to close the place in style. While fun to bandy about names, the same proclamation was made during last summer's "Save CBGB" promotion with Living Colour being the only notable name to lend aid to the cause.

Owner Hilly Kristal plans to reopen CBGB in Las Vegas in 2008. "I am taking the bars with me, I am taking the stage. I'm taking the urinal that Joey [Ramone] pissed in with me. I'm going to take a lot of things, anything that makes this place CBGB."

Labels: CBGB, Living Colour

By: David Schultz

In his solo work, Vernon Reid has always tried to express and reveal different aspects of his musical psyche, creating poetic images with his guitar instead of words. In Masque, the band Reid formed with keyboardist Leon Gruenbaum and bassist Hank Schroy after Living Colour split up in the nineties, Reid takes on a more prevalent role than in his prior group. Unlike Living Colour, which Reid described for Earvolution as "much more a democracy," Reid looks at Masque as "a dictatorship with input." With album titles like Other True Self and Mistaken Identity, Reid puts his search for identity more at the forefront of Masque's work than he did with Living Colour.

Last week, Reid's worlds pleasantly collided when Corey Glover joined Masque on stage at New York City's Canal Room. After inconspicuously watching the show from the side of the stage, his dyed blond hair hidden under a cap, Reid called Glover to the stage for an exceptionally jazzy improvisational workout of Living Colour's "Flying." With stylish leather love seats and coffee tables spread throughout the room, the flowing, extended version of the song fit in well with The Canal Room's lounge-like setup. As rock stars normally don’t make house calls, this is the closest one can get to experiencing Vernon Reid and Masque playing in your living room.

It takes a very gifted musician to share the stage with Reid and Leon Gruenbaum matches Reid with his creative spirit and inventive genius. Gruenbaum's high-tech keyboard setup looks like it would be more in place at a computer lab then on stage. However, the modestly sized equipment belies the full bold sound Gruenbaum generates. Using a computer interface that Gruenbaum described to Earvolution with great technical and musical expertise, he is able to switch to The Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheee Peeeee, an ergonomically-correct, double palm sized computer keyboard of his own invention which allows him to play riffs quicker than he could by hand. The extremely talented keyboardist may not need the added help, but it definitely doesn't hurt to have such assistance when Reid starts shredding his guitar at seemingly impossible speed.

The rhythm section isn't lacking either. On drums, the physically imposing Don McKenzie pounds away with a strength that comes through in the beat. Replacing Schroy, Masque's new bassist gave the intro to the band's cover of Radiohead's "National Anthem" a spacey rumbling feel; Reid transforming Thom Yorke's high-pitched wail into a guitar instrumental with great effect. The band's other cover, a meditative interpretation of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence," became a showcase for Reid's lightning fast guitar work, leaving the rest of the band with the unenviable task of attempting to match his wizardry.

Reid's band mate in The Yohimbe Brothers, DJ Logic, joined Masque for a couple songs, including the lilting "Flatbush and Church Street" which musically recalls a street corner from Reid's youth. Logic also came on stage for a freestyle session with Liquid Soul, the multi-cultural band that opened the evening. With their dreadlocked lead singer, Mr. Greenweedz, dancing throughout the room and the sunglasses clad Mars Williams offering tasty licks on the sax, the band's name accurately describes their sound. Logic and Williams helped Masque close the show, combining on a freewheeling romp through Known Unknown's "Voodoo Pimp Stroll." Once the show concluded, Reid offered his assessment of the night's music, "I thought we stayed out of the way of the music."

Over this summer, Reid's perpetually busy touring schedule will not relent. Reid's current tour with Masque in support of their latest album, Other True Self, will conclude later this month on the west coast. From there, Reid will join up with the Punk-Funk All Stars, (Reid, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Melvin Gibbs, Joseph Bowie and James "Blood" Ulmer) for a handful of overseas shows and hit portions of the European festival circuit with Living Colour.

Labels: DJ Logic, Living Colour, Masque, Vernon Reid

By: David Schultz
Live shot photos via LivingColor.com & Flickr.

As a member of the hard-rocking, socio-politically conscious Living Colour, Vernon Reid solidified his position as one of rock and roll's most inventive and intriguing lead guitarists. In the late eighties, Reid's transcendent guitar solo from "Cult Of Personality" emanated from classic rock radio, top 40 radio and MTV. Sadly, bright stars burn fiercely; Living Colour split up in the early nineties, their vigilantly defiant voice of conscience silent until reforming in the summer of 2001.

In the aftermath of Living Colour's split, Reid released his first solo album Mistaken Identity in 1996 with the members of Masque. For the follow-up, the 2004 Known Unknown, Masque received equal billing. Taking less time to release their next album, Vernon Reid and Masque's Other True Self hits stores April 18. While awaiting the release of his new album, Reid graciously invited Earvolution into his New York City home to discuss Other True Self, Masque and the unavoidable topic of Living Colour.

Masque grew out of longtime relationships between Reid, bassist Hank Schroy and keyboardist Leon Gruenbaum. Schroy came to Masque from the alternative rock band No Walls and Gruenbaum "came from outer space by way of Brookline, Massachusetts." With a chuckle, Reid describes meeting Gruenbaum at one of his photo exhibitions where the keyboardist gave him a tape that floored the seemingly unflappable guitarist. "He's a brilliant keyboard player as well as being an inventor, incredibly knowledgeable in all types of music," says Reid of Gruenbaum. "Genius is a word that gets thrown around, but he truly is that." The term "genius" has often been applied to Reid, but when asked if he feels like one, he quickly dismissed the suggestion, succinctly and modestly responding, "Nope. I am an ongoing and developing experience."

With Masque, Reid explores different and varying musical styles. While Living Colour in no way hid Reid's guitar virtuosity, Masque gives Reid the opportunity to show off his skills in genres outside of his other band's hard rock bailiwick. On Other True Self, Reid offers a collection of instrumentals ranging from the Caribbean flavored reggae of "Flatbush And Church Revisited," the jazz, funk, metal fusion of "Game Is Rigged," a grandiose cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" and an inspired reworking of Radiohead's "National Anthem." Don McKenzie, a member of the Mistaken Identity touring band, replaces Marlon Browden on drums for the new album. "Don brings something new, he's very hard-hitting," explains Reid. "Whereas Marlon has a very different style, intense, a very jazz, improvised type of thing, Don has a more funk and pocket type background."

Reid's solo projects have always dealt with the concept of identity and, as the name would lead you to believe, Other True Self continues Reid's exploration. The new album's ideological origins stem from discussions Reid had with Cream bassist Jack Bruce about their not-so-different backgrounds. Like Reid, Bruce has been involved in numerous projects. "We've lived so many lives inside of our lives," Bruce told Reid. The notion of evolving persona and psyche has always been inextricably entwined with Reid's solo work. "The idea of all these records is that by looking at identity, looking at who it is that's addressing you now, what is 'I'?" explains Reid. "What does that mean? What does it mean to be a guitarist of a certain style? What does it mean to be of a certain ethnic group? What does it mean to be an American? What does it mean to be an American in the world now?"

Bringing the analysis closer to home, Reid looks at his albums as a snapshot of where he's at now. With respect to the idea of having separate selves, Reid takes an existential view. "It's like another side of me, the same me but a different side," he says. "Mistaken Identity was so much about, there's the Living Colour thing, there's Vernon Reid and all of that and then there's this kind of darkie figurine and what does the darkie figurine have to do with Vernon Reid inside of Living Colour and outside of Living Colour," he explains. "It purports to be me and is supposed to represent me," Reid says of Mistaken Identity's cover image. "Examining what [the figurine actually represents], that's an ongoing fascination." Broadening the metaphor further, Reid concludes that, "In a way, [his Masque albums and solo projects] are all different aspects of a central question, who is this and why does he have a guitar around his neck."

Reid's intrigued by the contrast between the identity you feel for yourself and the identity projected onto you by others, a theme that runs beyond the music and into Other True Self's cover art, especially the wild helmet/mask sported by Reid. Instead of seeing the mask as an instrument of concealment, Reid sees it as a way to disclose a more complex nature. "The idea of the mask as revealing and bringing forth an aspect of one's nature," interests Reid. Enjoying the juxtaposition of wearing a suit while wearing a primitive headdress and holding a Tony Fitzpatrick painted guitar, Reid explicates that, "Masking hides the self but it also projects another true self."

While Reid's latest album reflects a distinct side of his personality, he eschews simplifying identity into a dichotomy. "Don't limit it to a duality," Reid answers deliberately. "It's like a kind of circle. I came into this really into Santana and Jimi Hendrix, then I got into [jazz guitarist] John McLaughlin and underneath all that was the blues thing, Freddie King, B.B. King. From there to The Decoding Society and Ronald Shannon Jackson, which went 'out there' into the so called avant-garde." Reid speaks reverentially about the avant-garde. "You have to have those extreme elements in music. From the avant-garde, you get to the mainstream. Working with Jackson, meeting Ornette Coleman and even what happened with Living Colour," has brought Reid to the place he is today. "You don’t get to the center without going onto the edge." Completing the circle, Reid defines his new album within that context. "Other True Self is the space between the very extreme avant-garde and the mainstream."

Other True Self succeeds by avoiding the pitfalls of becoming mired in its own heaviness, steering well clear of the stereotypical guitar histrionics that habitually weigh down full-length rock instrumental albums. Reid accomplishes the task by keeping the mix of songs fresh. "The sequence of the album is very much the journey," proclaims Reid. The opening two songs, "Game Is Rigged" and "National Anthem," comprise a gripping opening couplet. "I like how they came across, how they go from one to the other," Reid says with pride. "Game Is Rigged" seamlessly moves through funk, jazz, blues and a little metal, with Reid's guitar skating on the surface of Masque's skillful backing. The Radiohead cover may seem an odd choice, but the replacement of Thom Yorke's ethereal, ghostly voice with Reid's soulful guitar succeeds on a grand scale. "We got the bass sound just right," Reid says, unsurprisingly agreeing with the assessment. "After Soundgarden (Reid's favorite Living Colour contemporaries) broke up, I was devastated. I got a taste of what it was like for fans of Living Colour to hear that Living Colour broke up. Radiohead was one of the bands that made rock fascinating again." Plus, the title alone peaked Reid's interest as a provocateur. "You can't not think about 'The Star Spangled Banner' and I like the tension of thinking about 'The Star Spangled Banner' but playing the Radiohead tune."

"Flatbush And Church Revisited" is a reggae-tinged soundtrack for the Brooklyn intersection frequented by those who trace their ancestry to the Caribbean. Through "Flatbush," Reid best describes his affinity for instrumentals. "Instrumental music can serve to say things you can't say with lyrics but it can also serve as a soundtrack for a very particular place in time," describes Reid. "It can be a soundtrack for an emotion as well as a physical place or a mental landscape. That's how I relate to instrumental music." The song also has a small sentimental attachment for Reid as his parents are from the Caribbean, thus revealing yet another side of the guitarist, but possibly not a significant one. "I don't identify as Caribbean. I guess I do inasmuch as I'm an African-Caribbean American, but I grew up in New York. I grew up in America. The only thing I know is America, I identify as American, whatever that means," Reid says with a laugh.

The pounding beat of "Whiteface" and the bouncing "Mind Of My Mind" overlaps a little with Reid's Living Colour work, but on the whole Other True Self is as much a separate project as Will Calhoun's jazz recordings. Gruenbaum injects a little Emerson, Lake & Palmer keyboard action into "Afrerika" and the interplay between Reid's guitar and Gruenbaum's Hammond organ turn Depeche Mode's 1990 hit "Enjoy The Silence" into a laid back, elegiac anthem. "Prof. Bebey" has the joyful pacing of a medieval folk tune and concludes the album with a pleasant reverie. Known for roaring guitar solos, "Prof. Bebey" has given Reid the impetus to further exploring the potential of acoustic music. "'Prof. Bebey' was actually a cue for the film, The 12 Disciples of Nelson Mandela," Reid explains. "I kept thinking about it and recorded it with the band and it came out really well. Where the acoustic melds with the electronics," Reid says and then pauses. "I'm not sure what that's going to mean, but it's something I'm interested in."

Masque has worked out the new material on stage in Europe and Reid seemed pleased with the development. "'Game Is Rigged' really kind of grew and changes from day to day. The Radiohead and Depeche Mode songs also went over well. Mistaken Identity's 'CP Time' and Known Unknown's 'The Slouch' were also well received." There will always be those amongst Masque's audience that want to see Reid bust out a Living Colour tune but they have faded into the background over time. Reid's not bothered by those people who call for "Cult Of Personality" or their other favorite Living Colour songs. "It's gratifying to have people that have been with it since the first record." While no Living Colour covers have made their way into Masque's set, Reid's considering incorporating a song or two, thinking Vivid's "Broken Hearts" would work well. He also would like to work in a Talking Heads Fear Of Music track into the set, leaning towards "Mind."

Not one to suffer fools lightly; there is nothing frivolous about Reid. Don't take that to mean he's without humor as Reid has a very witty, amiable way about him. Rather, Reid brings a hyperactive intellect to all his pursuits. Reid can and will expound on sports, politics and especially music, offering perspectives from a unique and informed point of view. It's Reid's interpretation of the world around him that helped fuel Living Colour's success. In fact, whether Living Colour has more to say is the quandary the band presently faces. "Now I'm at a place, is this going to be an evolving thing, is this stuck in time or are we just playing the songs that everyone knows. Is it ongoing?" Reid says of Living Colour's future. "At what point do we all make that happen, and that's really a question for the band right now."



Reid was not hesitant to discuss his former band, although conceding that he was not always so forthcoming. "There's a time period in my life that if you brought up Living Colour, I would have been, next question." Reid then became momentarily pensive. "It happens, you're so close. It's funny about being intimate with people and close to them, it's weird. The disappointment is that much stronger." When asked if the true story of Living Colour's split has ever been told, Reid grinned and with a playful laugh said, "I don't think the real story's ever been told and I ain't going to tell it now." After pausing for a moment, Reid implies that there's no simple answer to that question, saying that there were many different aspects to Living Colour's breakup. "One thing I will say, we probably needed to have a serious cooling off period after [original bassist] Muzz [Skillings] left the band. Having said that, I'm really happy that Doug joined the band and all those other things you can speculate on."

Living Colour has never been shy to lend their voice or time to a cause they feel worthy. Last summer, Living Colour returned to CBGB to play a benefit show in support of the legendary punk-rock club's fight with its landlord to remain in its iconic East Village home. Reid has fond memories for CBGB and its owner Hilly Kristal and regrets the club becoming a casualty to the ever-changing New York landscape. "It's sad," Reid says of the development of the East Village. "It's turning into a miniature midtown. Low high rises all over the place. I hate the fact that it's become a scrubbed up shadow of itself. No one wants to deal with crime and unsavory elements but New York City used to have a real edge. The meat packing district has become a super-expensive, high fashion, exclusive club place and that's what happening to the East Village, it's sad."

Reid remains non-committal as to what should happen to CBGB when its lease expires later this year. "It's funny because some people are very nostalgic of CBGB," says Reid, noting the varying range of opinions on the proper course of action for the club's future. "Other people had a bad time because they didn't become famous and are very negative. Hilly gave me a fair shake. If he wants to cash out; I think he should do whatever he wants to do with it." While taking no exception with whatever Kristal eventually decides to do with his club, Reid takes issue with the circumstances that have brought the situation to bear. "CBGB should have been landmarked." Noting the similarities between CBGB's fight and the battle to save the Electric Ladyland studios, Reid posits, "On a certain level, real estate is about hubris and ego. It's about 'I can do this because I can.' It really speaks to the ferocity of the great game of New York real estate, the blood sport of it. Another generation is going to come along and no one's going to understand what it is until it's taken away from them." Reid's last thought is lyrically elegant. "You don't miss your water 'til the well runs dry."

At their CBGB concert, "Open Letter (To A Landlord)" took on added meaning and Reid compared that performance to Living Colour's cover of Bruce Springsteen's controversial "American Skin (41 Shots)" at Central Park's Summerstage in the summer of 2001, shortly after the band reformed. "We had been working up to doing '41 Shots' in Central Park and once we did it there, we didn't need to do the song again," said Reid. "The story arc of that song and Amadou Diallo was complete and to repeat the story doesn't do anything. Some things are funny that way, some things need closure. The CBGB thing, I was surprised at the people who didn't show up and didn't want to go back, but I understand that."

For many, the Central Park show marked Living Colour's reunion, even though they had played some live shows in preparation for the free concert. While fans flocked to Central Park to see Living Colour again, Reid had mixed feelings about the way Living Colour returned. "I would have liked to get together, play and write new songs," he explains. However, never one to shy from a potentially controversial position, Reid and Living Colour felt once more that they had something to say. "One thing that mattered to me was '41 Shots.' The rest of that show felt like we were playing a weird kind ofbarbecuee or weird block party, just very weird. '41 Shots' was the moment in that show where the actual Living Colour, the Living Colour that was vital, the Living Colour that meant something, actually did something."

Shortly after Living Colour's return, New York City was beset by the September 11th terrorist attacks that scarred a whole generation of New Yorkers and Americans. "I don't know if the band would have continued without September 11," explained Reid. "We're a New York band and September 11 was a moment and a thing that really brought that into focus. We'd been working on songs; 'A ? Of When' was written before the attacks but took on more meaning afterwards," says Reid before concisely summing up their return. "We still had something to say."

Living Colour returned to a different landscape that greeted them upon their late eighties debut. Reid realizes the public's reaction to Living Colour, a black band playing rock and roll, would differ if they came along today. "The novelty of being black would be less a part of the story," reasons Reid. "After Living Colour there has been Rage Against The Machine, the band that came after us that stylistically extended the boundaries, there are mixed-race bands like the Dave Matthews Band and Sevendust. Things have evolved and Living Colour was part of that reintegration and re-evolution." Reid's modest about Living Colour's role in changing people's perceptions, stressing that they made it more possible for these bands to gain acceptance but that "everyone has to stand or fall on their music. I'm not going to take credit for other people's music," he states firmly. "Lenny Kravitz became a bona-fide rock star without anyone saying 'oh he's black.' Before us it was Prince, before that Bad Brains, even as far back as The Isley Brothers."

Reid comfortably looks back on the past, but isn't content to reside there. "I'm glad that Living Colour affected the landscape of rock and roll," he says proudly. "My main concern now is whether the story is ongoing or is the story complete. What is it that we’re talking about now? What do we as, a collective, have to bring to it? What's the chapter that's going to be written next? It's an open question." However, Reid will never shy away from playing the songs that earned Living Colour legions of loyal fans that still come to see the band whenever and wherever they play. "The sentiment feels dated but for the most part when we get out of the way of the music, it's pretty fun." As to whether he will ever grow tired of playing "Cult Of Personality," Reid answers reflectively. "Has Santana ever played a show without playing 'Black Magic Woman?' It would be weird for him to get to the point where he could do a show and not play it; you would realize that a whole generation has passed out of his audience."

In discussing whether Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish brings out anything extra from Reid ("Doug's a bad motherfucker isn't he?" Reid says with a laugh and an impish grin), you learn that Reid is very self aware of the reasons for his, and Living Colour's success. After joking that when Wimbish gets going, "I just try and stay out of the way," Reid gives a fascinating dissertation on making great rock and roll. "It's about getting out of the way of the music," he explains. "When you see a bad Living Colour show you see four guys not agreeing, colliding into one another, scrabbling for their space. When you see a great Living Colour show, the songs play themselves. The music has to play the musician."

Reid then brings up King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and his theory of the totality of the experience. "Rock audiences are attuned to when things are real and when things are fake. They know when a real moment's happening or when a real moment's not happening. I became fascinated with the idea that people can tell when you're playing well. They don't know scales, they don't know music theory, but they will know when you’re not playing well. If you play for musicians, half of them don't know either. It's interesting the way people respond to certain things, if someone does a flashy thing that's actually not that deep musically, people respond to it because he did a flashy thing. But it's real interesting when they respond to something really edgy, really risk-taking because they get it, they hear it."

Once again, bringing the general around to the specific, Reid explains how this works for him. "Getting out of the way of yourself, getting out of the way of what you want [the music] to be and actually being and doing what [the music] is. It can be very difficult," he says deliberately. "It's a lot easier to get in the way than to get out of the way." Reid continues, "I know for myself, when I want want want, I get into trouble. I want to be cool. I want you to like me. I want you to like this song. I want you to buy the record. I want. I want. I want. The things that I want are barriers, which is weird, because you have to have desire on a certain level and you have to execute. Really being who you are at the moment and playing the music to the best of your ability without an expectation of reward. I'm going to play this thing and you're going to love it," he reveals. "That's what works for me."

Labels: CBGB, Living Colour, Masque, Vernon Reid

Fresh off a December mini-tour with Living Colour, drummer Will Calhoun will be returning to the stage in late January in support of Native Lands, his recent jazz offering. Calhoun's solo projects differ significantly from his work with the hard rocking Living Colour, focusing on world beats and jazz revealing another musical side of the tremendously gifted drummer. Calhoun's four night run at New York City's legendary Blue Note jazz club will commence on January 26-29 with two shows each night.

Calhoun embarked on a month long European tour last October in support of Native Lands, remaining overseas to reform Head/Fake with Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish for a November run of European shows. No rest for the weary, Calhoun and Wimbish returned to the States, hitting the road with Vernon Reid and Corey Glover. The January shows will mark Calhoun's first performance of his Native Lands material in the United States.

Calhoun's band for the Blue Note shows will include Stacy Dillard and Marcus Strickland on sax, Orrin Evans on keys, Corey Wilkes on trumpet and Mark Kelley on bass.

Labels: Living Colour

By David Schultz

Halfway into Living Colour's Friday night set at CBGB's, Corey Glover belted out the opening lines to Open Letter (To A Landlord), perfectly encapsulating the populist undercurrent of this month's benefit shows to save the legendary punk club on the lower east side of Manhattan:

Now you can tear a building down
But you can't erase a memory
These houses may look all run down
But they have a value you can't see

The fact that after sharing his feelings with the audience about CBGB's place in his heart, Glover seemingly lost his place in his a capella intro, requiring a musical nudge from guitarist Vernon Reid to move it along, did nothing to diminish the power of the moment.

With its lease expiring at the end of August, CBGB's battle with its landlord, the Bowery Residents Committee, is coming to a head. Although a Manhattan Civil Court Judge dismissed the BRC's claim for back rent, essentially resolving all past issues, it remains to be seen whether a new lease, with a rent CBGB's can afford, can be negotiated. In an effort to raise money to assist in the preservation of the historical club, CBGB's is staging a month long series of benefit shows. With the Talking Heads, Patti Smith and Tom Verlaine notably missing from the announced slate of performances, Living Colour will be the highest profile act to return to their roots and play the club that opened its doors for them many years ago.

Reid gave many short speeches throughout the night. With Glover playfully mocking him, Reid finished each one declaring it would be his last for the evening. Although claiming that the night wasn't about nostalgia, Living Colour tipped their musical hat to CBGB's history, opening with an amped-up cover of the Talking Heads' Memories Can't Wait. In light of the cause being promoted, Collide0scope's Sacred Ground, the hopefully unprophetic Time's Up and the poignant Open Letter (To A Landlord), resounded with more emotion and deeper relevance. Noting that for a period of time in the band's infancy, CBGB's was the only club that would let Living Colour on stage, Reid gave sincere thanks to Hilly Kristal, CBGB's heart and soul, for giving the band one of its first breaks.

At the outset of the show, Corey Glover self-deprecatingly noted that they were too old for this. Aside from the fact that Glover's spandex singlets from the late eighties have been replaced by baggier, less formfitting jumpsuits, nothing could be further from the truth. Living Colour's high-energy, genre-busting rock and roll, which can go from heavy metal to funk on a moment's notice, may have matured but it hasn't lost step over the years. Older songs like Vivid's Middle Man and Glamour Boys as well as Time's Up's Type, now containing a reggae coda, sound as fresh and crisp as they did years ago.

As evidenced by his electrifying and inventive solos on Flying, Open Letter (To A Landlord) and the set-closing Cult Of Personality, Vernon Reid has not relinquished his position as one of rock's most innovative guitar players and remains the highlight of any Living Colour concert. Not to be shown up, bassist Doug Wimbish and drummer Will Calhoun, arguably the most talented drummer playing today, more than hold their own with Reid. Always novel and progressive, Calhoun's extended drum solo, a staple of any Living Colour show, will never be confused with its stereotypical dinosaur-rock predecessors. Anyone mistaking Calhoun's solo spots for the appropriate time to seek out the facilities truly misses out on something special. Normally a duet between Wimbish and Calhoun, Reid remained onstage for Terrorism, a newer song that has become the rhythm section's tour de force. Wimbish, treating his bass like a short-stringed guitar, fronted the band and coaxed notes out of his bass that few others could imagine, much less play.

The fearlessly blunt Terrorism fits right in with in-your-face songs like Funny Vibe, another live staple, that are Living Colour's sine qua non. Inextricably entwining his opinion of George Bush and Tony Blair with the song's undeniably funky bass-heavy groove, Wimbish risks alienating conservative listeners who are unable to separate their political views from their choice of music. But on the other hand, how many Republicans are Living Colour fans anyway?

Just prior to the encore, Reid addressed the notion of transforming CBGB's into a museum or shrine to the music it fostered, offering his opinion that the future of CBGB's is not in reliving its past but in artists pushing music forward and doing new things. Either illustrating or missing his own point, the band finished the evening with their unique interpretation of the Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows. Featuring Wimbish on the standing bass and peppered with solos from Reid, the extended jam ventured from fuzzy guitar-heavy grunge into the realm of avant-garde jazz.

For those music lovers that haven't been privileged to catch a show at CBGB's, don't be misled that the efforts to save the club are about anything but the history within and the nostalgia it inspires. Typical of your old-school lower east side hangouts, the walls are covered with stickers, flyers and graffiti and the furnishings are sparse, with tables and chairs more appropriate to an elementary school than a Manhattan bar. However, therein lies the charm. No one comes to CBGB's for the décor; they come for the music. Let's hope the music gods are beneficently smiling down upon this old music hall: it would be a shame to lose the next Ramones because there's no place for them to play.

[All images from LivingColour.com]

Labels: Living Colour, Vernon Reid