VERNON REID

Best known as a member of LIVING COLOUR, Vernon Reid has always been a team player. Over the course of his lengthy career, the New York-based guitarist has collaborated with just about everyone that has crossed his path, from revered jazz guitarist Bill Frisell (on 1984's "Smash & Scatteration") to esteemed turntable maestro DJ Logic (on the duo's two full-length albums as YOHIMBE BROTHERS). Even his solo efforts to date have had a strong, collaborative edge. Two previous albums recorded with backing band MASQUE enthusiastically explored the jazz fusion world, with Reid in the title role, but never overshadowing his band mates. Meanwhile, LIVING COLOUR shows no signs of hanging up their rocking boots and must be due another studio record in the near future. But such is the prevailing nature of Reid's musical life that "Hoodoo Telemetry" comes as something of a surprise. A bona fide solo record, albeit one that is well populated by his innumerable and diverse associates, this is arguably the first clear glimpse into what kind of music he makes when not compelled to compromise in the slightest.

As it turns out, VERNON REID is just as restless and inquisitive as a solo artist as he is in cahoots with others. "Hoodoo Telemetry" is a multi-faceted joy from start to finish, with rock, jazz, soul and avant-garde experiments all crammed into its 67-minute running time. Bizarrely, it all fits together beautifully, exuding joy at the very process of making music at every turn. It starts with "Door Of No Return": a fine showcase for Reid's fluid, unpredictable playing, and a neat, dubby groove to ease listeners into his multifarious musical world. Next, "Freedom Jazz Dance" skitters through a mad maze of Zappa-like jazz rock angularity, underpinned by an infectious, syncopated beat and peppered with bursts of kamikaze guitar noise. In wild contrast to the two songs that precede it, "Good Afternoon Everyone" is taut, funky and yet dreamlike and disorienting, as shards of dialogue bruised soul vocals and feisty spoken word fight to find their place amidst the madness. The slightly more conventional, insouciant funk of "The Haunting" takes "Hoodoo Telemetry" down another unexpected road, heavy with neo-soul cool and sweetly melodic guitar embellishments, before "Bronx Paradox" changes the game yet again, as dirty, P-FUNK horns and seething Hammond organ collide with big, '70s rock riffs and feverish turntable action.

All of this genre-melting, liberated creativity could easily become tiresome in less capable hands, but Reid is so adept at twisting music to his own, intuitive template that listeners will have no reason to question his stylistic choices. As a testament to its creator's endless supply of smart ideas, "Hoodoo Telemetry" is hard to fault. As a fitting soundtrack to the societal chaos and political bullshit that currently threaten American civility, it is even harder to locate even a single flaw here. Whether he is lost in atonal, jazz reverie over the jammed-out dub trip of "Or Knot", floating through psychedelic vistas on the syrupy drift of "Dying To Live", or rocking out with muscular urgency on the warped blues rock of "Politician", Reid is a superlative ringmaster with a stubborn disregard for conforming to anyone else's preferences. "Black Fathom Five" is a gritty electro-rock crossover splurge; "Beautiful Bastard" is an exquisite, artful ballad; and "Meditation On The Last Times I Saw Arthur Rhames" is a berserk, avant-rock free-for-all, with some of the most unhinged guitar work in recent memory. "Hoodoo Telemetry" is restless and wild, but also absurdly entertaining and multi-dimensional. Those who can click with its inner metronome will find that all human life is here. An extraordinary piece of work from a true maverick.