Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
The most impressive about this soulful R&B album is the lack of major label association. Ri'shar's honey-coated ballads and seductive songs have a big, polished sound, but it was achieved without taking on any major label baggage.
The music is ultra smooth, catering to a very distinct fanbase. It's the stuff that you'd imagine would be playing at a romantic candlelight dinner or whispering in the background during an evening in front of the fireplace. Taking inspiration from Smokey Robinson's A Quiet Storm, Ri'shar is relaxed and assertive, his sinuous vocals weaving intimate tales of seduction. "Experience"'s multi-layered vocal is backed by polished soft rock; it's warm and cozy and rich-sounding. "Goodtimes" and "Rhythm of the Rain" are typical adult contemporary musical fare: soothing synths and drum machine beats focus your attention on the vocal presentation. However, Ri'shar doesn't need much help at getting attention; his distinctive high-alto melodies are delivered with a particular poise, marking him as a mature artist who understands and exploits his strengths to their fullest extent. The acoustic guitar-backed "Fame" even brings to mind a latter-day Sting, and will leave you swaying woozily to its gentle rhythm.
As long as you dig dramatic vocal changes and slick music tracks, Ri'shar should be right up your alley. He doesn't break any new ground, but he's rock-solid at what he does. A&R reps will have their grubby paws on him in no time.
-- Andrew Magilow
Splendid Magazine
http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=108463286213858
- by Andrew Magilow
Ri'shar • Ri'shar • Self-Released • The smooth R&B sounds of Ri'shar. This album has a sound that would fit snuggly on one of those radio stations that plays nothing but smooth "lite" rock ballads, things like Phil Collins, Christopher Cross, and Luther Vandross...but "suckling nipples" is mentioned in not one, but two tracks. Ri'shar, you wild man! (CL)
*****
http://www.impactpress.com/articles/junjul04/musicr6704.html
- Chris Lupton
Discography
February/2004 Released: "RI'SHAR..." (BMI)
December/1994 Released: "Questions Of The Heart" (BMI)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
It was in January of '95 through a soulful/pop demo entitled "Questions of the Heart..." (BMI) that Richard's - an alumni of the prestigious and "Fame" New York City High School of Music and the Performing Arts- musical introduction was made. It was an album that served as a public introduction of the very private man, who until then, had kept quietly to himself, his musical abilities as an artist, writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist unknown to the world.
Graduating, Richard acknowledged the obvious, “I was never interested in becoming ‘a starving artist.’ Music – as a business- was too hard to break into and harder to maintain without something to fall back on.” Hence, ever the realist, he went to study Information Systems, which led to rewarding opportunities at some of the world’s most renowned financial corporations. However, successful he became, Richard, nevertheless was starving. “I was starving for a chance to make my mark musically. Music like food, consumed me. The more I practiced and played the hungrier I got and the more I saw my peers on stage, the envier I became.” Thus, shifting his priorities which had been all work, the hunger was quenched somewhat with the release of “Questions of Heart (BMI). The result? Buoyed by positive reviews from his peers and A&R reps who recognized his potential. Richard sharpened his skills, their recommendations quietly directing his resolves.
Now, having developed musically, lyrically and artistically, this time, integrating a soulful/adult contemporary sound fused with smooth jazz, orchestrated ballads; he emerges, using the French pronunciation of his first name - [Re'shaar] - with a look and a voice that is distinct and at once many different things. Whatever the influence, Richard stands on his own, ready to make his indelible mark with this newly self-titled follow up: Ri'shar...(BMI).
The effect, without as much as a word is a man: six foot two, boyish good looks, smooth in voice, style and lyrics that will show him to be artist worth savoring. Whatever you do, remember the name for you won't ever forget the voice nor his music.
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