Ricky Fante

Pure soul music, that popular, hip-shaking genre launched in the great Motown/ Stax era of the '60s, has long been a staple of the musical lexicon. Soul music's dynamic vigor-a concoction of Southern-based gospel, driving horns, insistent organ, a fat backbeat and colossal bass grooves - is lovingly revived in the youthful persona of the New Voice of Soul, Ricky Fanté.

Fanté, a 25-year-old southeast Washington, D.C. native, is a rarity in a world populated by vocalists stamped out in today's clinical, computerized music production system. His gritty, infectiously heartfelt vocals are so infused with the spirit and verve of a soul legend - the likes of Sam Cooke, Eddie Floyd, Otis Redding and Al Green - that, on first listen to his impressively crafted Virgin debut, Rewind, a familiar light immediately clicks on. Rewind is a refreshing venture that is far more than a nostalgic trip down Memory Lane. In fact, the album leaves the listener recognizing that emotional, brilliant soul music is still very much a reality. Vanity Fair magazine was an early believer, hailing Fanté as one "who possesses an extraordinary soul voice."

Now residing in Los Angeles, Fanté wrote and recorded Rewind with the help of Grammy-winning songwriter Jesse Harris, who wrote or co-wrote five songs on songstress Norah Jones's 2002 multi-Grammy-winning, multi-million-selling smash album, Come Away With Me. Fanté's album is an eclectic mixture that brings back the heyday of the great Stax and Muscle Shoals bands that backed the likes of Isaac Hayes and Sam & Dave, as well as legendary producer/arranger Willie Mitchell's studio wizardry that provided a perfect backdrop for Al Green's silky body of hits. In short, Rewind is a timeless album that makes you feel the way soul records used to.

True to the source of all major soul/R&B artists of yesterday, on through to the present, the church played an enormous role in shaping Ricky's musical sensibilities. Its fervor and emotional build-up are crucial not only to gospel, but to great soul singing. "Yes, I started in the church - the choir to be exact," the artist recalls. He also sang around the neighborhood, and soon found that he could make friends by imitating Stevie Wonder and Elvis Presley, two of his major musical influences. "I could do all these different voices, and that's how I made friends."

His parents (Dad is an engineer for the Washington, D.C., Metro rail system; Mom, formerly a lawyer, is now an elementary school teacher) raised Ricky on a steady diet of soulful R&B for as long as he can recall. "My parents listened to everything. My Mom has all the Motown records, and Dad is a big soul and jazz head. Music was being played constantly in the house."

Although his grandmother, Mary Helen Wilson, sang spirituals in the church choir, Ricky also grew up listening to the music of the day, including a venture to a Stevie Wonder concert when he was a child, which left a major impression. "It was at the Washington Monument when Stevie was leading the campaign to get Martin Luther King's birthday passed as a holiday," he remembers. "My mother and my aunt took me to see him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing; I was literally moved to tears by his performance. From that point on, I was hot for every Stevie Wonder album that came out. That was it for me; I was all about Stevie." But that wasn't the only musical influence Ricky had at that young age. "Elvis Presley. I saw all of his movies. He was ultra-cool. I couldn't get into what people were saying about him (allegations that Presley made insensitive racial comments about blacks). I couldn't get into the social politics, but just looked at the talent aspect-the voice, the tone-it was about that."

In Washington, D.C., "go-go" music - made of thick grooves that combined elements of James Brown, the Ohio Players and Parliament/Funkadelic - was the popular choice of Ricky's youth. He briefly joined the go-go movement with a group called the Junior Division.

After high school, Fanté enlisted in the Marines, a stint that lasted for four years. He then moved to Los Angeles to attend college and to pursue a career in music-with $6 in his pocket. "I had a friend who was a producer. We stayed in a small studio in Hollywood that had more roaches than carpet!" While seeking employment, he and his friend used a small four-track recorder to lay down song ideas. Within six months, Fanté landed a deal with a small independent record label by winning a talent contest, but fame wasn't forthcoming. "I learned that you have to do it for yourself; don't sit and wait for someone else. I kept gigging, doing showcases, and working with different producers." Fanté also worked odd jobs, including one with UPS, all the time continuing his college studies. However, the lure of music pulled him away from obtaining a degree.

Fanté formed a two-man group called Soul Surfers that blended melodies with gritty soul, a precursor of things to come. They garnered a small but loyal following and their demo found its way to A&R executive Josh Deutsch. He signed Fanté to a development deal in 2001, and put him in the studio with various producers to find a sound that fit.

At the top of 2002, multi-Grammy winner Norah Jones' popularity was exploding. Deutsch hooked Fanté up with Jesse Harris, putting them into the recording studio to write songs. "We wrote for about six months and laid down master vocals," Ricky explains. "Then we went to the Bahamas to put the finishing touches on the project. We worked at Chris Blackwell's famous Compass Point Studio in Nassau for two weeks and had a fantastic time. The creative vibe was really good." The result of those six months and the two weeks in the Bahamas is Rewind, twelve songs that capture romance ("It's Over Now," "I Let You Go," "Are You Lonely Too?," "He Don't Love You"), tragedy (the intensely personal and graphic "Why"), joy ("Drive" and "Smile"), and gospel-like celebrations of love ("Oh Yeah" and "A Woman's Touch"). All in all, the album was a rollicking good time that was missing one key ingredient: a record label that shared Fanté's vision for the project. "When we met with Virgin, the fit was perfect," Ricky explains. "Virgin's artist roster is very unique because they allow their artists to be artists, to develop on their own. That really stuck with me."

Ricky's goal for Rewind is clear: "I want to bring soul music back, but in an attractive, organized manner. I want to do soul music for real. I like that we used all different aspects of the music; it's a natural marriage for me to do it in that traditional sense. Sometimes songs need to be sung gritty, sometimes soft, and sometimes you have to mix it. Josh and Jesse were able to put my thoughts and feelings about what I wanted to say into a set structure."

Legendary soul man/producer/songwriter Isaac Hayes obviously agrees with this assessment: "I finally heard the type of recording that's been missing in all our lives," he writes in the album's liner notes. "It has an old school sound but it's fresh... It's the shot of adrenaline the music industry needs today."