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Rafael Greco - Dice Que Vive

<Back to Rafael Greco's Artist Page

In his own words, Rafael Greco offers the following about his album, “Dice que vive” (Signs of Life):

This album begins with a study of reiteration. Generally, in folk music, rhythmic cells are repeated to form a continuous fabric that groove and inspire dancing. Upon discovering the rhythms of Central Africa and composer Steve Reich caused me to listen to reiteration, the art of repitition from another angle. It was almost like looking at a butterfly's wings through a microscope. Each song contains reiterative cues, layers of sounds, carefully designed textures that were vital to creating a work that could give the impression of being a simple yet coherent architectural illusion.


The album is a tribute to my family, to the music of my homeland, to my memories, to the places and people that marked the way I perceive my surroundings. It is a sincere attempt to express my musical and artistic nature.
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I must mention some of the great masters who influenced this work: Naná Vasconcelos, Charles Ives, Toru Takemitsu, Don Grolnick, Johnny Pacheco, Ángel Canales, Keith Jarrett, Django Bates, Federico Mompou, Steve Winwood, Bruce Hornsby, Lyle Mays, Michael Brecker, Adalberto Santiago, Gil Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Steve Reich, James Taylor, Juan de Dios Martínez, Olivier Messiaen, Joe Zawinul, Peter Gabriel and Oliver Knussen.

Buy, Download and Stream:

Rafael Greco
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Featuring:

Keyboards, Vocals, Additional Percussion, Programming, Sax, Composer - Rafael Greco
Acoustic Guitar (tracks 2, 4) - Steve Khan
Electric Guitar (track 4) - Steve Khan
Electric Guitar (track 3) - Rigel Mitzelena
Electric Guitar, Sample (tracks 5, 11, 13) - Juanma Trujillo
Electric Guitar (track 9) - Juan Ángel Esquivel
Electric Guitar (track 11) - Dani Barón
Muted Trumpet and Flugelhorn (track 2) - Randy Brecker
Percussion (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11) - Luisito Quintero
Percussion (tracks 1, 4, 11) - Robert Quintero
Bass (tracks 1, 4, 11) - Rodner Padilla
Drums (track 4) - Humberto Casanova
Drums (track 6) - Fernando Valladares
Drums (track 9) - Mark Walker
Rhodes Solo, Keys (tracks 1, 6) - Santiago Bosch
Electric Piano (track 11) - Victor Mestas
Piano (track 12) - Arnaldo Pizzolante
Voice, BGV (track 3) - Pimpi Santistevan
BGV (track 4) - Guillermo Carrasco
BGV (track 11) - Marcial Istúriz
Bark (track 3) - Cony
Sample, Whistle (tracks 7, 12) - Pimpi Santistevan
Track samples, Arrangements - Germán Landaeta
Mix Engineer - Germán Landaeta
Mastering Engineer - Germán Landaeta
Mixed & Mastered at Phaseland Studios, Miami, FL
Producer - Rafael Greco
Co-Producer - Germán Landaeta
Piano tuning - Louise Cabrelles
Recorded & Produced at Fritoplug Kilováis - Rafael Greco
Assistant Engineer: Ubilfido Cubillán
Photos: Leo Álvarez
CD Design: Pedro Quintero

Liner Notes | About The Songs

Personal notes from Rafael Greco
1. Once Upon A Time
A Knight, Diana, The Beggar, a Ranger, The Ogre and a Dragon comprise the characters of this fable that attempts to teach us that we should never reveal our dreams and projects to anyone before they have become a reality."
2.Ondé
I wrote this piece during the Caracas political protests in which many of our young people were killed. Those who represented the dictatorship were shooting straight into the chest or the head. In those days, we asked our children two questions born of anxiety and desperation: “Where were you?” and “Why didn't you call?"
3. Mr. Iwai
Darkness welcomes a spirit, who is doomed to dwell on a high platform. It is a ghost story. It is about the courage and fragility of those people who dare to perform any feat despite the inherent fear. This is often where I find myself, and that is why I know about Iwai and other souls in a constant state of struggle."
4. African Boy
Edgar Alexander, a Venezuelan singer, resides in the beginning of this song, offering a recurring motif that presented itself to me with the timbre of his voice. It seems that the music of Central Africa has influenced everything that I do lately. Maybe it is an imagined landscape, one that has been dreamt a thousand times.
5. Igno Two
If one can imagine a giant, rather clumsy robot, that is what came to mind when I composed this music. It is a hymn dedicated to the inaccuracy, inefficiency and incapacity of old technologies; a curious tracing of the humanity within machines. In that sense, I sympathize with these monsters.
6. 10th Avenue
The sound of chimbangueles (a gathering of tambores, the sounds of Zulia – my home state in Venezuela) is the origin of this song. At my house on 10th Avenue, the chimbangleros would come in with delicious music, with the saint dancing in their heads while alternating choruses and drinking rum. It was fun to see my parents enjoying those moments. That place marked my life with its doors always open, and our home constantly full of people. Family, friends and unforgettable characters inhabit this story.
7. 11-2 
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The idea for this piece comes from my love for hymns. Laughter always motivates what I do and here it becomes the axis. I can say, without fear of plagiarizing, that it is a very brief "hymn to joy."
8. Mantra
Through repetition with a meditative energy, I humbly offer a prayer for the good of all.

The recording of the "Belén" interlude was completed in less than a half an hour. I remember that I was distracted by my balcony while I played in "cycle mode" the 16 bars of the isolated voices. I noticed how each repetition seemed to invite me to rediscover it, as if I had never heard it before. A musical Phoenix of sorts. Thus began my interest in "insistence" as a form of expression. I returned to Steve Reich, but this time with a different appetite. The pulse, rhythmic patterns, speeches, prayers, sentences, words, notes and spaces would later fulfill other functions. For me, after "Mantra," the signs of repetition in a score now have a more mystical connotation.
9. Time
Diaspora. The song represents the pain of all the people who have been forced to leave Venezuela. It is a letter to my daughter Lucí​a, encouraging her to find herself, her own country, her personal truth. The hope of a new embrace.
10. An Illusion
This piece is a slow guaguancó or a fast yambü...for Our Lady of Chiquinquirá​. Every year in Maracaibo, my birthplace, composers offer to the virgin songs of love and devotion. This is my serenade.
11. Belén
During a trip to Panamá in 2013, I was impressed with the Panamanian tamborito, especially because of the connection of that beautiful music with the chimbanguele of my own homeland. I built the first part of the song based on that experience, extending and connecting it to a chorus that was going around in my head for quite a while. The second part came later, and by the way, it seemed to have yeast in its recipe, as the music wanted to grow and grow. It could easily have lasted 20-minutes. It is a song that reflects my mother's love, and how very much I miss her.
12. Five Miniatures for Solo Piano

Here, I am bringing my passion for writing short stories to music. A musical realization of those stories. They are hallucinations of games where all the characters are insects.
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The natural cruelty in the universe of these beings is very similar to the behaviors within our own childish world.
13. Ghost Owner
This piece is a free improvisation, and it is dedicated to those who might take a ghost for a ride in a helium balloon.

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Ondé (Free Download) - Rafael Greco

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