Victor Rice - In America (Badasonic Records)

In 2002, Rice moved from New York in the US to São Paulo in Brazil, so on this almost entirely instrumental album (only 'Baby Dub' features the voice of singer Caz Gardiner), recorded in Studio Vikkly and Version City in The Big Apple, but finished in Estudio El Rocha in Sampa, apart from ska (opener 'The Whip'), reggae and dub, you can also hear influences from bossa nova and jazz ('Fernandinho').

For the musical part Victor Rice collaborated with top notch music wizards like sound engineer and producer Victor 'Ticklah' Axelrod, saxophonists Tony Calarco and Paul Gebhardt of The Scofflaws, former Antibalas trombonist Aaron Johnson, David Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven trumpeter Rolf Langsjoen, Jamaican percussion veteran Larry McDonald (Toots & The Maytalls, Gil Scott Heron, David Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven...), Stubborn Allstars and David Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven drummer Eddie Ocampo, Easy Star All-Stars, Scofflaws and David Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven trombonist David O'Sullivan and finally keyboardist Victor Ruggiero (Stubborn Allstars, The Slackers, Reggae Workers Of The World, The Silencers…),  resulting in a track list consisting almost entirely of gems like 'Toque' or 'Dry Beat SP', both starring Victor's melodica, dubby closing track 'J.D.' (in which a slight tap on the xylophone makes all the difference), or the jazzy 'Neighbors'. Brilliant timeless album!