It was with great shock and much sadness that I read of the death of Steve Reid this afternoon.
Many people will write much more fitting tributes and recall their memories of the man but aside from a brief history to introduce him to anyone unfamiliar with his work, I would most like to talk about my own discovery of his music.
In the 60's and 70's he played with everytone from Martha and the Vandella's hits 'Heatwave' and 'Dancing In The Street' (aged 16!) to Sun Ra and Fela Kuti. He pretty much played with a whos-who of all the jazz names.
Inadvertently, I had been introduced to him without realising through the intro music on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show for a number of years but my first time I really picked up on him was when he began working with Keiran Hebden. I don't really know how or why they met up, clearly Reid has been a huge influence of Four Tet's stuff but I wouldn't like to make assumptions as to how Reid was introduced to the stuttery, noisy, electronic sounds Four Tet had been making at the time.
Anyway, I picked up the album 'Spirit Walk' on this link with Four Tet working on a couple of the tracks and then it struck me 'Lions Of Juda', the track Peterson had been subliminally building me up to, was now being reworked for someone like me - someone who needed the guiding hand into jazz, using modern producers to show the links and references.
They went on to record a few more albums together, specifically them tow jamming for most part, so nothing really opened my eyes and ears again as much as that eureka moment.
Lions Of Juda (from Spirit Walk)
For a more detailed history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reid
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