Foto (c) Caroline Bittencourt
Alle, die Victor und sein sagenhaftes Septett beim Freedom Sounds 2018 erlebt haben, werden sich ganz besonders freuen, dass die Truppe 2020 zu uns zurückkehrt und gleich noch ein ganz neues Album, „Drink“, vorstellen wird.
Denjenigen, denen der Name noch nichts sagt, sei die ausführlichere, englischsprachige Biografie unten empfohlen. So oder so ist es nicht ganz unwahrscheinlich, dass ihr als Ska- und Reggae-Fan zuhause einige Platten stehen habt, an denen Victor mitgewirkt hat.
As a bass player, engineer and producer Victor Rice was involved with most of the groundbreaking ska bands which emerged from New York in the early 1990s like The Scofflaws, Stubborn Allstars, The Slackers, New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, King Django’s Roots & Culture or The Toasters.
As he delved deeper into producing he began experimenting with dub and quickly gained a reputation as a highly original and much in-demand engineer and dub producer, for example for New York’s Easy Star Records and the Easy Star All Stars, contributing to highly popular records like “Dub Side of the Moon” or “Radiodread”.
After moving to São Paulo, Brazil in 2002, Rice continued to produce reggae and ska music by a variety of international acts, including Firebug (Brazil), The Moon Invaders (Belgium), The Stingers ATX (USA), The Japonicans (Japan) and Chris Murray (Canada), Pitshú (a.k.a. Alberto Matondo Manzambi), Cedric Brooks and Buford O’Sullivan (USA).
Victor 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.
“Drink” is the sequel to Victor Rice’s last album “Smoke”, on which he created a nuew musical genre which he called “Samba Rocksteady”, mixing Ska and Rocksteady with Brazilian Samba-Rock. At Freedom Sounds, we will be the fortunate first ones to hear the new songs live.
“Drive” was recorded and produced with the same musicians, Victor Rice’s Septet, who played a stunning show at Freedom Sounds 2018. The record will be released by Easy Star Records to coincide with the festival.