LivingColour-VernonReid

•OriginalNoise.Org
the players
 the bridge

Leap of Faith
Vernon Reid
w/ Garland Jeffreys
“Hail Hail Rock N Roll”
1991 — Don’t Call Me Buckwheat
((( >>> )))

— yZ.

Imagination
After staking his Free Jazz claim playing guitar with Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, Vernon Reid thought, in 1985, it was time to strike out and create a band of his own. After a number of fits and starts, the next year Vernon met Corey Glover, and asked him to sing. Soon after, Will Calhoun (drums), and Muzz Skillings (bass) joined, and Vernon’s “idea” was realized, and LIVING COLOUR was well prepared for launch. 

What’s Your Favorite Color?
1983 — Vernon Reid was known in Downtown New York City, where the Jazz was always “Free,” and the shadows were dark. With Living Colour, Vernon took the next evolution of “Fusion,” into the ultra-bright, MTV light.

Living Colour*
LiIvViInNgG coOlLoOuUrR
Vernon Reid (G.UITAR)
Corey Glover (V.OCALS)
Will Calhoun (D.RUMS)
Muzz Skillings (1985-1992)
Doug Wimbish (B.ASS)

2025 — Hoodoo Telemetry (Interview)
VERNON REID HOODOO TELEMETRY (INTERVIEW #1)
VERNON REID HOODOO TELEMETRY (INTERVIEW #2)

inst.rument of change
VERNON REID (ELECTRIC GUITAR)
VERNON (CONT’D)
VERNON (TIMELINE)
VERNON (INTERVIEW)
VERNON REID (RACE TO THE FINISH INTERVIEW)

Voyager
1977 — Cosmic Message In A Bottle.
The Gold Record
Contact
Carl Sagan
Jean-Luc Ponty
Imaginary Voyage (1976)
Enigmatic Ocean  (1977)
Cosmic Messenger  (1978)

HOLY TRINITY OF ROCK
HOLY TRINITY OF JAZZ

Hip-Hop Happens (Vanity Fair)
Original Sugar Hill Rhythm Section
1979 — HIP-HOP RISING [PLAYLIST]
Skip McDonald (guitar)
Doug Wimbish (bass)
Keith LeBlanc (drums)
Adrian Sherwood (mix)
Tack>>Head
Bernard Fowler (vocals)
Tack>>Head
Living Colour
Little Axe

1980 — SUMMER IN THE CITY (HIP-HOP, FUNK, AND FUSION)
1981 — SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY (MTV AND THE LOOK OF MUSIC)
1982 — SATURDAY IN THE PARK (NO NUKES)
1980 — They Only Come Out At Night
Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society
1980 — Eye On You
1981 — Nasty
1982 — Defunkt
Thermonuclear Sweat
1982 — Mandance
1982 — Defunkt (Joseph Bowie) was more rhythmic, melodic, and funky than Ronald Shannon Jackson and most bands making more of a “Free Jazz” mark on New York City’s downtown. Playing guitar with Defunkt, Vernon’s sound was more reminiscent of Funkadelic’s  EDDIE HAZEL than Bitch’s Brew‘s John McLaughlin.
1983 — Barbeque Dog (Antilles)
1983 — Live at The Montreux Jazz Festival (Knit Classics)
1983 — Street Priest
1984 — Smash & Scatteration (w/Bill Frisell)
1985 — Decode Yourself (Island)

“Cp Time”
Vernon Reid (wiki)
Mistaken Identity
1996 — A New Idea
((( alone again )))

JAZZIZ*

Vernon Reid 
Moving On Up.
DOWNTOWN
The Knitting Factory
The Bowery
CBGB … 
RONALD SHANNON JACKSON  
JAMES “BLOOD” ULMER
CECIL TAYLOR
PHAROAH SANDERS
ORNETTE COLEMAN (w/Will, Jeremiah)
JOHN ZORN 
DEFUNKT
SCREAMING HEADLESS TORSOS
ROY HARGROVE
EYE & I

“Avant-Funk”
1985 — Black Rock Coalition
1986 — A Band Grows in Brooklyn
1987 — Bridge to Forever
BEYOND BROOKLYN
First, playing clubs in the city’s five boroughs (Beastie Boys), and Manhattan,
notably at CBGB. Downtown, in the Bowery, also home of
Patti Smith, Television, Talking Heads, The Ramones …
w/ Public Enemy 
Yo! Bum Rush the Show
CBGB (2013) MOVIE
Joe Satriani
Surfing With The Alien
Guns N Roses
Appetite For Destruction
1988 — Vivid

“Fight The Power”
Public Enemy
1989 — Do The Right Thing (soundtrack)
((( >>> )))

—yZ.

[FROM THE TOP]

1989 — “Steel Wheels”
Rolling Stones North American Tour 1989
Miami @ The Orange Bowl
1989 — Saturday Night Live
1990 — Time’s Up
Cyberpunk (Billy Idol)
w/ Doug Wimbish
Lollapalooza (THE INAUGURAL)
SPIN magazine looked back at the festival’s creation, interviewing the creator himself, Perry Farell (Jane’s Addiction), and many of the first year’s performers, including Living Colour guitarist, Vernon Reid.
1991 — Eye & i
w/ DK Dyson, Melvin Gibbs, Bernie Worrell
w/Garland Jeffreys
Don’t Call Me Buckwheat
“Hail Hail Rock N Roll”
“I Was Afraid Of Malcolm” [X]
1992 — Biscuits
1993 — Stain
“Crosstown Traffic”
Stone Free: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix
1994 — [No] Dread
Live Recordings from Living Colour’s 1993 World Tour
“Sunshine Of Your Love” (True Lies) 
w/ Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton
1995 — Pride (Then/Now)
1996 — Prince Glam Slam (Miami Beach)

 

Who Are You Today?
Vernon Reid
Mistaken Identity
((( >>> )))

Yohimbe Brothers @ The Bowery Ballroom
b/ Larry Blumenstein Video Productions

“Tongues On Fire”
BLACK PANTHERS TRIBUTE
Paris, France (2/6/10)
written b/ David Murray
art b/ Emory Douglas
musical interpretation b/ Living Colour
w/ The Last Poets

solo
1996 — Mistaken Identity (Solo)
1997 — Naked Launch (Hubble Telescope)
1998 — GTR OBLQ (Guitar Oblique)
w/Elliott Sharp and David Torn
1999 — Purple Party (w/Prince)
2000 — Living Colour @ CBGB (Home Again Naturally)
Christmas Week (Y2K)
2001 — Living Colour Reunion Tour
Jimi Hendrix (Open and Close)
Head>>Fake “Crosstown Traffic”
911 —  Beginning Of The End
LIVING COLOUR RESURRECTION

 

“Self-Evident”
Ani DiFranco
So Much Shouting So Much Laughter
(((  The Sound of 9-11 )))

Living Colour w/ David Murray and The Last Poets

2002 — Yohimbe Brothers
Yohimbe Brothers
@ The Bowery Ballroom
New York City (2002)
After the dissolution of Living Colour (1994), Vernon’s solo material was often described as “avant,” a return to the New York City Underground, where his career started in the early 1980s.
Although reminiscent of his beginning with Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, the addition of 21st Century mixer Dj Logic, Vernon left no doubt that as always, he was looking toward the future.

2003 — CollideOscope

“Voodoo Pimp Stroll”
Vernon Reid & Masque
Known Unknown
2004 —
((( song )))

Different (Other) Colours

2004 — Vernon Reid & Masque
Tack>>Head Reunion
2005 — 
2006 — 
2007 — Wimbash / Brazil
2008 — Free Form Funky Freqs

Tack>>Head “In The Area”
2009 — Chair In The Doorway
2010 — Tongues On Fire w/ The Last Poets 
2011 — w/ Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, John Medeski, and Cindy Blackman.
2012 — Spectrum Road
w/ Jack Bruce, Vernon Reid, John Medeski,  Cindy Blackman. 
2013 — VIVID LIVE: 25 YEARS AFTER
2014 — 
2015 — “Who Shot Ya?” Violent Summer In The City
2016 — FREE IN D.C. (Monumental Performance)
Get On The Boat (Prince)
Cruise Ship Elders.
2017 —  Shade
Industry Promotion
2018 — “Machine Gun”  b/ Band of Gypsys (Re-Visited)
2019 — Going Viral
Blues Cruise out of New Orleans followed (without a break) by a Rock N Roll Carribean Cruise that left Fort Lauderdale, the week we learned of the presence of COVID-19.
2020 — VIRUS, VACCINE, AND WAR
Give The Drummer Some
w/ Cindy Blackman, Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, Kirk Hammett
2021 — Hope Springs Temporarily
Summerland Tour (w/Everclear)
Covid Again Naturally
2022 — Hymn of The 3rd Galaxy
Tribute to the 1973 Return to Forever recording Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. Reid reflected: “That record was very important in my development… Bill Connors‘ playing on it is so full of fire, but it’s also emotionally vulnerable in a way. I was very affected by the compositions, as well.”^[3] The titles of most of the individual tracks refer to parts of the Milky Way galaxy.

2023 —

2024 — Artificial Intelligence
Natural Stupidity (Trump Again Naturally)

2025 — The Authoritatively Speaking

 

Politician
Vernon Reid
2025 — Hoodoo Telemetry
((( Back to Where it Began )))

Portrait (guitar)
Bill Clark (CQ Roll Call)
ABC (Jimmy Kimmel)

Vernon w/ Alex Skolnick*

Up From The Skies
Jimi Hendrix
Two days before Vernon Reid and Living Colour, at Jimmy Kimmel’s request, played “Cult of Personality” to close out his show that had included Bruce Springsteen and Jeremy Allen White who played Bruce in Deliver Me From Nowhere, the film that had just been released. The show was just days after Kimmel’s return, after ABC had cancelled him, giving in to pressure exerted by Donald Trump, who whined that Kimmel was treating him “unfairly,” in his “unfunny” monologues.

[FROM THE TOP]

POLITICIAN — Reaching back to his playing guitar in Jack Bruce’s band, Spectrum Road, Vernon included the Cream classic on his second solo record, Hoodoo Telemetry.

VERNON REID 2025 — Portrait for his new Hoodoo Telemetry record.

*VERNON REID HOODOO TELEMETRY (INTERVIEW #1)
*VERNON REID HOODOO TELEMETRY (INTERVIEW #2)

“Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?” was the tune on Living Colour’s debut album, Vivid, where that paid tribute to where and from what it became. The Clash, the more sophisticated punks from London had played a legendary run at CBGB, the club Vernon Reid and his Living Colour mates called home.

SEPTEMBER 23 — A statue featuring President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein dancing, titled “In Honor of Friendship Month,” appeared on the east end of the National Mall in Washington on Tuesday morning, September 23, 2025.

The World According to Mick. After helping Living Colour secure the deal with Sony Records to make Vivid, The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger invited Vernon and the band to open for the Stones on its upcoming Steel Wheels 1989 North American Tour.

Jagger first saw Living Colour in its natural habitat, CBGB, the dirty, Downtown New York City bar, from which the Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, Television, King Missile, and the Talking Heads came from. A community that accepted all kinds of music, including Living Colour’s Fusion of Hard Rock, Metal, and Avant Punk.

Living Colour and Jimmy Kimmel, just days after the Donald Trump’s regime tried to have Kimmel removed, saying that his jokes were “not fair.” (ABC)

2000 — After making himself known in the Brooklyn underground, Mos Def, established himself more when he released the critically acclaimed Black on Both Sides in 1999. Unusual for a “rap” star, was that for his new record, Mos, recruited friend Will Calhoun to put together an honest-to-God, virtuosic band. Will’s first call was to his Living Colour and Head>>Fake mate, bassist Doug Wimbish. Doug was one of Hip-Hop’s founding fathers, the bass guitar in the Original Sugar Hill Records House Band (Rhythm Section.  After Doug, Will went to P-Funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell, and Bad Brains guitarist Dr. Know to complete Mos’ Rock N Roll band. Mos called the group “Black Jack Johnson,” an homage to Miles Davis, a musical inspiration for all.

THE ORIGINAL COLOR OF SIN (CONT’D)
THE ORIGINAL COLOR OF SIN (PT1.)

“Living In The Past”
Jethro Tull
2000 — Live
((( song )))

yT.

Vernon sits down with …… and discusses his musical education and inspirations, from friend and Black Rock Coalition co-founder, Greg Tate, to the Bad Brains and Mike Watt. Vernon is an honestly eclectic, Fusion guitar player.

VERNON REID
In The Past
w/
Mick Jagger
Jack Bruce
John McLaughlin
Carlos Santana
David Torn
Elliott Sharp
John Zorn
Prince
B.B. King
Garland Jeffreys
Blood Ulmer
Bernie Worrell
Terry Bozzio
Public Enemy
Rollins Band
Janet Jackson
Mariah Carey
Tracy Chapman
Don Byron
Roy Hargrove
DJ Spooky
The Roots
Eye & I
Ambitious Lovers
Spearhead
Black Sugar Transmission
(Reid solos on the title track of 2009’s USE IT EP)
MC 900 Ft. Jesus
Madeleine Peyroux
Meridiem
w/ Lenny White
Bitches Brew 50 Anniversary Project
MEB (Miles Electric Band)
Global Noize
Bill Frisell

 

Living Colour
• Vernon Reid (guitar)
• Corey Glover (vocals)
• Will Calhoun (drums)
• Doug Wimbish (bass guitar)

[LivingColour.Com]

 

CoLors*…
This is a Voyage into Sound.
inst. of change THE ELECTRIC GUITAR
the players
INSTRUMENTS OF NOISE.
take it to the bridge
The Original Color of Sin [BLUE]

the bridge
BLUE: THE ORIGINAL COLOR OF SIN
INST. OF CHANGE
FUSION GUITAR

MILES DAVIS (THE CREATOR)
JIMI HENDRIX (VOODOO’S CHILD)
PRINCE AMONG US (THE ARTIST)
ROLLIN’ ON THE RIVER
UNDER A CRESCENT MOON
CHICAGO BOUND
TEXAS SWING
DOWNTOWN NYC (WHERE THE JAZZ WAS FREE)
THEY ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT
A RENAISSANCE IN HARLEM
SUMMER IN THE CITY