Various – Nivata Riddim

From Germany emerges a four-tracked EP titled Nivata Riddim, produced by Dr. Love and esteemed Jamaican producer/musician/song writer/arranger Dean Fraser. With the release of the Nivata Riddim a long-held dream of Dr. Love comes true. Being very fond of Xterminator’s 1995 version of Bob Marley’s One Drop riddim which gave birth to reggae gems like Sizzla’s True God and Cocoa Tea’s Israel’s King, the founder of the defunct Far East Soundsystem in Leipzig, Germany, sought to capture the essence and spirit of one of his most beloved riddims.

Initially, Dr. Love requested his friend Leander Topp, also known as Pionear, to work on a specific riddim. However, Pionear was no longer active, so Dr. Love reached out to Dean Fraser to see if he could create the riddim and produce some songs. Dean Fraser then assembled a talented group of musicians including Kirk Bennett on drums, Donald Dennis on bass, Mitchum Khan on guitar, Bowie McLaughlin and Andrew “Stringy” Marsh on keys, Congo Billy on percussion, and young musician Okiel McIntyre on trumpet. Together, they recorded the Nivata Riddim at Donovan Germain’s Penthouse studio. The next step was to find vocalists to sing over the riddim. While Dean invited Duane Stephenson, Dr. Love invited General Degree, one of his favorite artists, to contribute with a conscious song. Since he had adopted the practices of yoga and meditation many years ago, he asked Bobby Hustle to write lyrics reflecting on a quote from the Bhagavad Gita.

The EP begins with the US-based singer’s song Candlelight, featuring a delightful trumpet performance. Although this song is enjoyable to listen to, the main attraction of this collection is definitely the rest of the tracks. Duane Stephenson delivers the soulful Shining Sun (Roots, Rock, Reggae Music), which is beautifully crafted. While the tune may not be groundbreaking, it is pretty good and thus worth hearing more than once. The same can be said about General Degree’s engaging Out There, which is a spiritually themed song that delivers. The crowning glory of the EP is the instrumental piece by Dean Fraser & Okiel McIntyre, which is truly exceptional.

(Please note that this project is not, and has never been, about making money. Any artist who wishes to voice the riddim, can use the multitracks free of charge. They can release their songs with all revenues for them. Feel free to reach out to Dr. Love for further information.)