Feb 232012
 

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this recent discovery (thank you Blabbermouth). It’s likely that the news will mean nothing to anyone reading this except the real old-timers, but for those of you as ancient as I am, it will definitely mean something. And those less ancient might learn a thing or two along the way. By the way, the music isn’t metal, but . . . it’s metal. If you know what I mean.

The news concerns a band called Spectrum Road. The members of Spectrum Road include some genuinely legendary figures — Jack Bruce, one of the founding members of Cream (along with Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker), a hugely influential songwriter, and a widely respected classical, jazz, and Latin musician; and Vernon Reid, the founder and principal songwriter of Living Colour and (among many other recognitions), the holder of the #66 position on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

The band also includes drummer Cindy Blackman-Santana, who was the drummer for Lenny Kravitz’s band for 14 years and an accomplished jazz drummer as well as rock musician (she’s also married to Carlos Santana), and John Medeski, a jazz keyboardist involved in many projects, but principally a groove-oriented jazz trio called Medeski Martin & Wood.

For me, Jack Bruce and Vernon Reid are the real draws for this project. After the jump, there’s a video of Spectrum Road performing live. Just watching Bruce and Reid perform together is amazing — and fuck, Vernon Reid can still really shred. The icing on the cake, though, is Cindy Blackman-Santana; it’s a kick to watch her tear it up on the  drums. Spectrum Road will be releasing a self-titled debut album on June 5 via Palmetto Records. Continue reading »