VERNON REID HAMILTON ROLL CALL

[whiteymuseum]

This is my first roll-call, is this how it's done?

For Immediate Release:

VERNON REID & MASQUE

Thursday May 27th

@ The Underground

Tickets on sale beginning April 23rd at Sonic Unyon,

DrDisc, Screamin' Mimi's, Casbah Lounge & The Underground.

Vernon Reid & Masque Unveil Known Unknown, Debut CD for Favored Nations due out on May 4

Living Colour Guitarist Revisits Downtown New York Roots

NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) March 12, 2004 -– Vernon Reid, best known as guitarist/songwriter in the band Living Colour, has signed with Favored Nations and is preparing for the May 4 street date of his latest “solo” project, Known Unknown.

In fact part of the band Vernon Reid & Masque, Reid makes a departure from the vocal rock outings of Living Colour, hearkening back to his origins in the New York avant garde scene – smashing musical preconceptions and conventions.

It is this Vernon Reid who has collaborated with such greats as Public Enemy, Mick Jagger, Carlos Santana and The Roots; who produced albums by James “Blood” Ulmer and Salief Keita; and composes soundtracks for film, theater and dance.

Reid’s signature scratch and growl guitar opens the album’s title track. From there, he gears to deliver the Bitches Brew improvisational freak-out of “Down & Out In Kigali and Freetown.” In the “Outskirts,” he turns to surf guitar and modal jazz. Finally, in “Flatbush & Church,” he brings it back to the Vernon Reid that many fans know. Reid is the chief architect behind this innovative sonic landscape – he is part guitar player and part visionary artist.

Reid recorded Known Unknown in New York over as two-year period between touring and other commitments. It’s composed of nuanced studio sessions and live takes. It contains both originals and what Reid calls “fractured standards” like the band’s treatment of Thelonious Monk’s “Brilliant Corners” and Lee Morgan’s “Sidewinder.” According to Reid, “I think of Masque as a component part of my life’s expression.”

Known Unknown draws in on the New York underground’s finest players. Both Hank Schroy (bass) and Leon Gruenbaum (keyboards including the custom-built Samchillian Tip Tip Tip Cheeepeeeee) have worked with Reid since Masque’s debut album, Mistaken Identity. Drummer Marlon Browden comes fresh from recent work with jazz guitar legend John Scofield. Together, the three are a fearsome force who at once act as tour guides through this strange Unknown world.

They are joined by Downtown mainstay DJ Logic, who provides cuts and scratches for the groove-heavy “Voodoo Pimp Stroll.”

Reid and Favored Nations founder (and guitar legend) Steve Vai have been friends for years and both are thrilled to have Masque as part of the label’s lineup. Says Reid, “Steve is astounding in ways words can’t articulate.”

Living Colour remains together and Reid is presently on tour with the band through Europe. When he returns, Masque will begin to tour North America.

Early dates include the following with many more to follow:

May 20 - Boston, MA - Johnny D's

May 22 - Rochester, NY - Montage Grille

May 24 – Victoriaville, QUE - Colisee Des Bois-france

May 27 - Hamilton, ON - The Underground

Hamilton openers include: brilliant guitarist BRIAN GRIFFITHS with band providing instrumental originals for the masses, as well as intense math-jazz deconstructionists SING THAT YELL THAT SPELL.

[bradm]

I'm currently just getting over the shellshock from last night at Babylon: Masque burned me to a crisp cinder.

Go See Him. Go Tape Him! I'm actully glad that Phish chose yesterday to announce the breakup, because it caused me to wear a Phish t-shirt to the show in memorium, which got noticed by a guy who happened to be a/the roadie for Masque. I had brought my (minimal/stealth) rig, in case, but wasn't hopeful. I talked to him while he was doing final set-up, and Vernon's OK with taping, provided he gets a copy of the show; the roadie, Danny, gave me the address, and I sent it off this morning (record turn-around time, ooh-ahh!).

Even for someone familiar with Vernon's work (with Living Colour and solo), I was floored. This was one of those "best shows nobody saw"; you owe it to yourself to see it. Be cautioned, though: it'll be loud; bring earplugs just in case it's too much.

Aloha,

Brad