@modernemcee Vernon Reid’s new solo album Hoodoo Telemetry features a track inspired by a multi-instrumentalist he compares to such revered virtuosos as Jimi Hendrix and John McLaughlin.
The track is titled Meditation On The Last Time I Saw Arthur Rhames. It is Reid’s tribute to the late Arthur Rhames, the New York-born jazz musician who died in 1989 at the age of 32.
Living Colour guitarist Reid was born in London but like Rhames was raised in New York City.
Reid tells MusicRadar: “Arthur Rhames was a multi-instrumentalist, extraordinary guitarist, extraordinary saxophonist, extraordinary pianist. He was… I can’t even begin! He played at the highest level.”
Reid says it is no exaggeration to liken Rhames’s creativity and mastery of the electric guitar to that of legendary British jazz player John McLaughlin on The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s debut album from 1971, The Inner Mounting Flame.
“I was totally into The Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Inner Mounting Flame, when it came out,” Reid says. “But he was a guy in my neighbourhood who played – I was even scared to say it at the time – but he played at the level of John McLaughlin!
“He was so extraordinary and he was always this kind of a poor, righteous teacher. At one point, he played with Rashied Ali, the great drummer who played with [John] Coltrane. But he also was in Steve Arrington’s band, Hall of Fame.
He continues: “Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame had a song Nobody Could Be You But You, which is to me, like, if you talk about a rare-groove type record, this is the pinnacle of self expression.
“It was experimental. It was kind of prog R&B. He was like prog R&B before Prince comes in with I Wanna Be Your Lover.
“It is is extraordinary. And there’s a super-short guitar solo from Arthur Rhames, and it’s really very simplified, but his timing, you could tell in this guitar solo that it’s still Arthur Rhames playing, who could play like John McLaughlin – and even beyond that.”
As Reid explains, the story of Rhames’s life is tragically short.
He should have been much more known than he was and that’s the craziness. There are probably 20 Hendrixes that just didn’t get heard
“Arthur Rhames died from complications of AIDS in ’89,” he says. “So much of this is about time and place, and this record [Hoodoo Telemetry] is really partly about all of these personages, all of these people who helped shape who I am.
“Your life is changed by people. Your life isn’t changed by theories. Ideas are important, but it’s people.
“I was like any other insecure teenager, and finding out that Arthur was gay, knocked homophobia completely out of my system. It knocked it out. And I’m incredibly, eternally grateful for this person.
“The other thing he taught me is that the universe is unfair, and the world is unfair. He should have been much more known than he was and that’s the craziness. There are probably 20 Hendrixes that just didn’t get heard.”
Watch On
You can read MusicRadar’s interview in full with Vernon Reid on Saturday, in which he talks swapping guitars with Jack White (and Alex Skolnick), the genius of neo-soul pioneer D’Angelo – and how the sampler operates as a quote/unquote nostalgia machine.
