Steve Reid - Musical Orator and Drummer. R.I.P

15/04/2010 by admin.

‘Music to me is not just frequencies, and sound. It goes beyond the physical realm. It’s like talking in tongues.’ - Steve Reid (with Four Tet)

It was Reid’s belief in the spiritual power of music, and through his undying love for rhythms, improvisation and beats which led to a three year long journey around the continent of Africa in the 1960s, and to invent a genre of music which reflected his passion known as Kozmigroov. Only Reid can state such adventurous journeys.

Only a handful of musicians can safely state that their musical contributions attributed to building the influential sounds of Motown music, and to idiosyncratic artists such as Miles Davis, Sun Ra, James Brown, Fela Kuti and of course Four Tet (Kieran Hebden), who has considered himself as Reid’s musical soul-mate.

It’s with great surprise and sadness to find out through Gilles Peterson and The BPM that the restless Reid died after a prolonged battle against throat cancer.

Check the ‘Spirit Walk’ LP by ‘Steve Reid Ensemble - one of Reid’s more recent work in which includes the electronic contribution of the aformentioned Four Tet. (Released on Soul Jazz Records, 2005) The album works ultimately as a welcoming record, encompassing Steve’s musical vision from the past to the present. It’s free-flowing music, which recalls the orchestraic andorganic sensibilites of what people today call ‘Jazz’, and draws out youthful and synthesized sounds that resonate today’s constant sonic progression within music. The two sounds collide and melt into each other coherently.

Rest in peace, Steve Reid.

January 29, 1944 – April 13, 2010

Posted in Steve Reid, Soul Jazz Records, Four Tet, Wonderful, Drum Heavy, Domino Records, 2010, Uncategorized | No Comments »