Debut Album by Spectrum Road, Featuring Vernon Reid and Jack Bruce, Expected June 5

As we reported in February, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid and Cream bassist Jack Bruce have started a new jazz-rock project called Spectrum Road.

The band, which also features keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski Martin and Wood and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, wife of Carlos, have announced that their self-titled debut album will be released June 5.

“[It’s] definitely a jazz-rock thing, but it has a rock edge, because one of the architects of modern rock [Bruce] is in the band and he’s singing these tunes,” Reid recently told Rolling Stone.

“It’s kind of an odd combination of jazz-rock as we know it. John Medeski is such an odd keyboardist and so quirky, and one of the beautiful things is his use of the Mellotron on the record, because the Mellotron is not associated with jazz-rock and fusion to a large degree. It’s more associated with King Crimson, Yes and the Moody Blues. It gives the thing a different feel and sonic signature.”

Medeski is also featured on Between The Times and The Tides,the new solo album by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.

Spectrum Road will perform at Bonnaroo on June 9, with several more shows to follow. For more about the band, check out their Facebook page.

Photo: Jérôme Brunet