I'm very inspired by it," says Ultra Records recording artist LATRICE BARNETT about her album, ILLUMINATE. Co-produced by house music's most recognizable names Jay-J and Kaskade and written with Latrice, the songs on her long-player debut transcend the stereotypical canned-creations found on today's market. Illuminate is a well-rounded work incorporating live instrumentation, sophisticated lyrics and velvety rhythms--a showcase for a fresh face whose talent as a singer, songwriter and producer reaches beyond just a beautiful voice on record.
Since 2001, Latrice has been a pioneer on the dance music scene, injecting R&B influences into electronic-based house music. Teaming up producers like Kaskade, Andy Caldwell, Halo, and Grammy-nominated producer Jay-J (of Moulton Studios and Naked Music fame), Latrice has co-written and sung on 16 chart-topping tracks at the time of this printing. Her smash single "Keep On Rising" (with Jay-J, 2003) has to date sold more than 15,000 copies as a single and has been licensed on at least 15 compilations (selling upwards of 30,000 total worldwide). Total, Latrice's work has been included on more than 23 compilations worldwide (many featuring more than one song written and performed by Latrice) and that number is increasing every week. Latrice fans know that anything with her name on it will be soulful, powerful and addictive.
Latrice began tailoring her singing and songwriting skills by heading up San Francisco-based neo-soul band Five Point Plan from 1998 to 2003. While opening for acts like Counting Crows, Sade, BB King and Los Amigos Invisibles, Five Point Plan released 2 full-length albums; the self-titled debut (“Five Point Plan”) and the critically acclaimed follow-up, “Rare.”
"I fell into singing by accident," Latrice says. "Before I played instruments like the sax, bass, cello and the flute (briefly). Teachers and friends would always try and get me to sing but I just wasn't into it -- I felt everyone could sing." It was when she went to France on a school exchange during college her resistance changed. "I had been there for a couple of weeks and I didn't really know anyone. I met this American girl who was pretty fun and we hooked up to go to a party. I was interested in a guy there, so she went up to him and told him I was a famous American singer. Turns out the guy had a band and asked me to sit in. The first rehearsal I went to the vocalist quit and with a show coming up in two weeks he asked if I could step in. I responded 'Of course, I am professional!' (in French, "Bien sur"). I ended up touring all over France with them."
After fronting New Orleans-based funk group Galactic in 2004, Latrice continued to grow as a musician expanding her professional repertoire to include bass. She has toured internationally on bass with Handsome Boy Modeling School, Rondo Brothers and Chocolate O'Brian (featuring members of No Doubt). She has also lent her bass skills in the studio to the Rondo Brothers and west coast hip-hop group the Hieroglyphics.
In addition to staying busy in the studio, she also takes time out to collaborate with other artists; namely, she has co-written several songs with Dave Lebolt (venerated musician and songwriter for David Bowie, Chaka Khan, and Billy Joel, as well as current General Manager for Digidesign) that have been included on product demos for Digidesign's 001 and 002 digital audio workstations. With several singles released, guest-spots on records like "Nowhere Left On Earth" (Rondo Brothers, 2004) and "J-Quest" (Jacore Baptiste, 2005), along with steady touring in Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Greece, Ibiza, Mallorca, Singapore, Canada, England, the Philippines, Japan and the US, Latrice continues to provide more stunning and engaging music as she continues to grow as an artist.
All of Latrice's experiences in music gel on Illuminate. Her contributions to Kaskade's productions formed a relationship that turned them into working partners. "Ryan (Raddon of Kaskade) told me the songs I was singing for him were really cool and from there he asked me if we wanted to make a record together." They teamed up with Jay-J who Latrice was already doing work with and the three united to start working on songs to shop at the Winter Music Conference in March '05. Patrick Moxey, president of Ultra Records flipped for the new songs after hearing them there and felt it was a great way to tap into the great soul/house vibe coming out of the Bay Area. He signed Latrice immediately.
Latrice did not play bass on her own album. "I did think about it," she says, "but I preferred to put my focus on other things for the album because we had such a short period of time to put it together." This gave her an opportunity to invite players she respected, including Uriah Duffy ("Celebrate") who has performed with Whitesnake and in Christina Aquilera and Alicia Keyes' bands, San Francisco heavies Andrew Higgins ("Endless Way"), Alex Marlo ("Spirits") and Dan Feizli ("Bless This House," "Lessons Learned").
Her connections also brought other players into the fold: guitarists Christopher Willits (whose works have been released through 12k and Ghostly International) and Rich Dixon, conga player Mark D'Antonio, keyboardist Jordan Glasgow, Mark Wright on trumpet and rhodes player Steve Utstien along with programming by Jay-J and Kaskade.
Latrice Barnett rises to the top of songwriters in soulful house music and R&B circles and everything she has scribed for Illuminate deal with things that have inspired her in life and reflect the theme of light. "Déjà Vu" is a song very close to my heart," says Latrice. "It's more of a spoken word piece where I was talking about random things--how a lot of times I dream stuff that will later happen." A huge Quincy Jones fan (especially his work with Michael Jackson), Latrice found him as the inspiration for songs like "Pleasure Unlimited" and "Soul On Fire." The title track and first single "Illuminate" was almost outrun by "Hold The Light," a hypnotic number that speaks heavily to Latrice in meaning. "I feel a lot of people are afraid to put vulnerability in music anymore. Being vulnerable is not ideal, but it's what I love about this song. It's desperate without being desperate when I sing "hold the light, until the break of day.'"
Latrice Barnett's debut album Illuminate will be released February 7, 2006 on Ultra Records. |
