As we reported in February, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid and Cream bassist Jack Bruce have started a new jazz-rock project called Spectrum Road.
The band, which also features keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski Martin and Wood and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, wife of Carlos, have announced that their self-titled debut album will be released June 5.
“[It’s] definitely a jazz-rock thing, but it has a rock edge, because one of the architects of modern rock [Bruce] is in the band and he’s singing these tunes,” Reid recently told Rolling Stone.
“It’s kind of an odd combination of jazz-rock as we know it. John Medeski is such an odd keyboardist and so quirky, and one of the beautiful things is his use of the Mellotron on the record, because the Mellotron is not associated with jazz-rock and fusion to a large degree. It’s more associated with King Crimson, Yes and the Moody Blues. It gives the thing a different feel and sonic signature.”
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
