Acclaimed as one of the country's best bassists, Ron Reid will be featured in one of his rare appearances on local soil on Sunday at the Central Bank Auditorium, Lower St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain. Actually the launch of Reid's newest album–Precious Metals: The Album Launch Concert is being staged by Radio.tt at 6 pm.
A blueblood Belmont boy, Reid was born at 14 Archer Street, 59 years ago. His father was an Anglican priest but early in life young Reid was certain that he would not follow in his father's footsteps. "I think I figured it out pretty early that music was my true calling," said Reid this week. "Being so close to the church I was fortunate to see the dichotomies of being a priest and realised that this wasn't for me."
"At high school at Trinity College none of my colleagues saw music as a chosen career and many of them would smirk when I said I wanted to be a musician. But, I decided on music by Form Two. As boys, most were looking at careers like business and finance. I don't know many artistes who have come out of Trinity College."
Precious Metals is Reid's third album, the other two being Calypsoldier and Reid, Wright and Be Happy.
He said: "I have worked on the albums done by other artistes and think it was time that I do something for myself."
Reid is a multi-instrumental artiste with an overwhelming passion for creating music; music especially that celebrates his rich Caribbean heritage. This Trinidad-born bassist, steel drummer, composer/educator has for the past 30 years been a standard-bearer for improvisational Caribbean music.
Reid is an associate professor of Contemporary Writing and Production at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He teaches several arranging classes as well as steelpan and Afropop ensembles.
He said: "The Berklee experience has been a very good one. I left Trinidad in 1985 to enrol at Berklee as an undergrad. I worked at Berklee for a little while after, then I left to attend graduate school to return to Berklee in 1996 to be on its faculty."
This year Reid is celebrating 20 years being on Berklee's staff and during those two decades has shared musical overtures and paths with colleagues and students alike. He said: "I have played and worked with some of my colleagues, as well as my students; several of them actually. A few of my students appear on this CD. Some of the outstanding ones I have worked with are Nadia Washington, who has performed in Trinidad, Katie Thiroux, a well-known bassist, and faculty members like Daniel Smith, Terri Lynn Carrington and Toron Israel."
About the new CD, Reid said: "The album was named Precious Metals because I had this concept for a while, that I would do an album which celebrated the combination of brass, steel and metallic percussion. So the idea sprung from how much I could write tunes that would feature these instruments.
"Seeing that this was an independent production I realised that I had to be realistic. I actually wanted to do this with a large steelband and a full orchestra. I realise that I would have to embark on that project whenever I get substantial funding down the road."
Reid began his career as a bassist in the late Lord Kitchener's Calypso Revue Tent in 1978 and has recorded and performed with an honour roll of calypso and soca artistes, including the Mighty Sparrow, Shadow, Lord Relator, Ella Andall and David Rudder.
Reid also shares his pan-playing talents with David Williams' J'ouvert and Calabash of Toronto, Canada, and as a pan musician has recorded with diverse artistes as Myanna, Grace Kelly and Bill Harley. As a jazz bassist he has performed with Randy Weston, Carmen Lundy, Lenora Helm and Antonio Hart to name a few.
Enjoying his "too short" visit to his homeland, Reid said: "It always feels good to come back home. I don't spend a lot of time hanging out and having vacations as I like to be actively involved in some type of creative project. The last time I was home was for the International Jazz Day celebration at Phase II Pan Groove.
"I don't get a chance to do fun stuff like go to the beach or eat a doubles. All my colleagues in the States think that when I say I am going to Trinidad I am coming here to chill out and have fun. Truth be told, I hardly ever have time for that kind of stuff."
On Sunday, Reid's ensemble would include a quartet of T&T's accomplished and renowned musicians in Theron Shaw, Tamba Gwindi, Natasha Joseph and Anthony Woodroffe. In appraising the competence of today's local musicians, Reid said: "I have been impressed by the level of musicianship by the younger musicians of T&T and realise that they are taking their studies more seriously than the youth of my generation."