Webster's Dictionary defines an artist as "one who professes and practices an imaginative art; a person skilled in one of the fine arts; a skilled performer." By any of these definitions, guitarist and composer Vernon Reid is a true artist, one whose art is a work forever in progress, from his formative years on the downtown New York jazz/funk/punk scene with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society, to his leadership of the pioneering multi-platinum rock band Living Colour, to his collaborations with creative spirits ranging from guitarist Carlos Santana and African singer Salif Keita to choreographers Bill T. Jones and Donald Byrd.