A British born American, Vernon Reid is a Grammy award-winning guitarist, composer and visual artist. In the 1980s, he led the pioneering multi-platinum rock band Living Colour, and has collaborated with Carlos Santana, Jack Bruce, The Ramones, George Clinton, Defunkt, Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga, Salif Keita and many others. Reid spent formative time at Just Above Midtown gallery, a hub of discovery and activism, where he gathered with other musicians, artists and entrepreneurs to eventually form the Black Rock Coalition, dedicated to exposing anti-Black bias and racism in the music industry. It was through Linda Goode Bryant that Reid experienced an aesthetic awakening through exposure to many artists, especially the radical composer and musical theorist Butch Morris. Reid leads Conductions with Greg Tate’s The Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber. Reid’s latest solo album is Hoodoo Telemetry on the Mascot Label Group, released 10/03/25.