The profile I wrote on Living Colour ran this morning on TheRoot.com. Here’s a taste:
“When they play together, I’ll put them onstage with anybody, in any genre of music,” says cultural critic and longtime friend Greg Tate who, along with Reid and artist manager Konda Mason, co-founded the Black Rock Coalition. “It’s literally like the Coltrane band”—the Classic Quartet of Coltrane, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison—“is playing rock. Cats on that level. This is one of the great bands in terms of a rhythm section and a soloist. It’s pretty undeniable. Awe-inspiring really. [Bad] Brains had that. So did [Led] Zeppelin. This is one of the great rock rhythm sections, and they will stomp ya ass.”
And this:
On top of the musicianship, their performances always serve to remind and inspire by the possibility they represent. “For African-American artists who are drawing outside the lines, we need to see possibility,” says former label executive Lisa Cortes, who is also the executive producer of the upcoming film Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire “And we need to see possibility that is successful. Possibility that has both indie cred, commercial success and has been internationally accepted. Their entrée into all of those places is so important. They’ve made a really important contribution by speaking to the realization of imagination and possibility.”
Read the full article here.
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