Vernon Reid, one of the world’s great guitarists and notable piece of New York downtown scene history, has a second Vernon Reid & Masque album. Titled Other True Self, it is his third “solo†album. The self-produced CD came out in the early summer of 2006 on Favored Nations Recordings. On Other True Self, he opens up some of the pages into his personal musical diary of how he might have gotten to where he is at musically. Each track spells out one or more facets of Vernon Reid: his African lineage in “Prof. Bebey,†the Latin flavor of the melodies he splashes over Hank Schroy’s bass pulse and Don McKenzie’s crisp reggae rhythm bed in “Flatbush and Church Revisited,†which has been featured a few times already on greenarrowradio. The swirling Middle Eastern energies in “Mind of My Mind” reminds my ears of what my eyes recall from visits into the desert. There are tracks on this album that belong to the other members souls as well and this is a sure piece to add to your puzzle of guitar driven forces in the world of sound.
MisterG ****
