Latin GRAMMY Award-winning engineer, producer, and musician
Victor Rice is gearing up to release his first solo album in almost 15 years.
The subtly-complex elegance of Smoke provides a rich smoothness made available
through tastemaker label Easy Star Records on November 3rd. Smoke takes Rice’s
knowledge from experience across a realm of genres and cultures and rolls it
all into a consistent line of thought, resulting in a fusion Rice identifies as
“samba rocksteady,” or SRS. Victor stated his goal for the album “was about
finding a way to fuse two different styles of music and dance from the 1960’s,
Brazilian samba-rock and Jamaican rocksteady.”
Smoke is filled with a classic warmth which presents a
serene mood, contrasted by an edginess veiled in the details throughout.
Inspired by relaxed and quiet surroundings and a team of great musicians, Rice
began conceptualizing his goal of fusing the two distinct styles, creating
something that felt new while drawing previously unclear lines of
commonalities. Being honored as a guest in Belgium at the home studio of
collaborator Nico Leonard opened up time and allowed Rice’s muse to visit.
A well-respected contributor to legendary bands such as The
Slackers, Easy Star All-Stars, Bixiga70, and The Skatalites, Rice has also
received top recognition for his mixing and engineering capabilities during his
immersive stay in Brazil, which helped him bring home two Latin GRAMMYs (2015,
2016) and become further knowledgeable in the depths of underappreciated
Brazilian music. The results of this blend of styles are at first glance very
easy to listen to with a sense of stability, but upon further evaluation,
intricate details emerge around the solid core, as Rice adroitly explains that
“music systems all over the world are founded on the physical laws of earthly
acoustics, without option. This line of thinking led me to create a series of
simple ‘tonal motion’ studies - creating a harmonic environment within the laws
of western counterpoint around a fixed movement by one voice.” Or, as he
figuratively puts it “…a musical study of molecular behavior.”
A taste of Victor’s signature blend is most evident in songs
like “Fumaça,” “Lou,” “Turn,” and “Motion II.” In Europe with plenty of time on
his hands, Rice took a deep dive into applying music theory in unique ways, as
showcased by the auditory illusion of modulation in “The Dream” and studies in
interval motions in “Motion Study I” and “Motion Study II.” Varying time
signatures prove no obstacle for the musical agility of Rice with tracks like
“Turn” and “Bermuda Triangle,” while more personal stories are embedded into
tracks like “Mr. Brooks,” an homage to an esteemed colleague, the late, great
Cedric IM Brooks.
Smoke is a remarkable effort from a man whose contributions
have made ripples around the globe. A pleasant ambience mixed with a virtuosic
soul make Smoke an album worthy of appreciation.
Tracklist:
Lou
Tema
Turn
Bermuda Triangle
Motion Study I
Mr. Brooks
Fumaça
Party Line
The Dream
Motion Study II
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