Whether he’s talking about trading riffs with Carlos Santana, being mentored by Mick Jagger or hanging out with artists Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, is equally philosophical about what brought him there.
“It’s a remarkable thing to consider how music has a quality to say something true about the human condition, however brilliant or naive,” said the 55-year-old guitarist. “The fact that it cuts through any and all of the noise to reach into the heart of things is the most important part of what it is.”
Reid is best known as the founder of the groundbreaking band , which fused jazz-funk sensibilities with scorching guitar work and hard-rock swagger. It’s been 25 years since the release of “Vivid,” the group’s Grammy-winning, platinum-selling debut that proved rock ‘n’ roll still had room for an uncompromising all-black metal band.
But as a producer, composer and session player, Reid has worked with hundreds more, from the aforementioned classic rock icons to DJ Logic, Public Enemy, the Coup, B.B. King, John Zorn and even .
“People can argue about styles and say they do or don’t like this kind of thing, but I was very fortunate in that I wasn’t told what music was good or bad when I was growing up,” said Reid, who brings Living Colour to the on Oct. 30 to play “Vivid” in its entirety.
“I wasn’t told that rock music was for white people, and that’s something I give my parents a lot of credit for. They may not have liked everything I was into, but the only thing they ever really told me was to turn it down because it was too loud.”
Reid’s typically passionate, articulate personality was more introspective this week since learning of the death of his old bandleader and mentor Ronald Shannon Jackson, who died at age 73 on Oct. 19. Jackson’s eclectic career included drumming with numerous jazz legends and bringing up a new generation of experimental musicians, including Reid, in his band the Decoding Society.
“He was the first person to really take me seriously,” Reid said. “I literally had some of the greatest experiences in my entire life in the Decoding Society, and so later on the idea of having a band like Living Colour evolved out of this very non-traditional band.”
The British-born Reid formed Living Colour in New York City in 1983 before Jagger took them under his wing three years later, leading to the major label release of “Vivid” in 1988. The album kicked off with the scorching, riff-driven single “Cult of Personality,” which captivated MTV audiences and propelled the band to an opening slot for the Rolling Stones’ massive “Steel Wheels” tour the next year.
“Living Colour was forged out of everything from funk to freak-jazz to acid rock to fusion, but at the bottom it’s the blues,” Reid said of the band, which is preparing an album of new material. “And the blues is an existential expression of life’s impermanence. “
That’s not a dour proclamation for Reid, however. He’s happy to see Living Colour songs find new audiences in “Guitar Hero” and “Grand Theft Auto” video games or, oddly enough, as the theme music of WWE wrestler CM Punk.
“I’ve been incredibly lucky to have these crazed moments of connection in terms of music,” he said. “And seeing the curious life of these songs is another example of this crazed jumble we’re all in right now. But I’m very much excited to see where this is going.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel
Living Colour
Jazz-funk-metal fusion, playing the album “Vivid” in its entirety, with opener Drug Under. 8 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Gothic Theatre, 3262 S. Broadway in Englewood. All ages. $30-$35. 303-789-9206 or .
