Alex Reece (born Alexander Reece, Barnet, England) is a

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub- ...

musician. He popularized the use of two-step breaks in drum and bass, and was an influence of the

jazzstep Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

sound, a mix of

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

. Reece was one of the musicians in the Metalheadz collective, and has also worked under the pseudonym of Fallen Angels.

Career

Reece began DJing in the late 1980s. In 1992, Jack Smooth offered Reece a trainee studio engineer job, and Reece went on to engineer for Smooth on many of the early Basement Records releases. Reece first tried

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

( recording with his brother, Oscar, under the name of Exodus), but graduated to drum and bass. Though his preferred genres were

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthes ...

and Detroit

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, Reece become known for

jungle music Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and ...

in the mid-1990s. His initial releases appeared on the Sinister, Creative Wax, and Moving Shadow record labels, but Reece made his name with

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in ...

's MetalHeadz Records. Single releases "Basic Principles" and "Pulp Fiction" became jungle standards. "Pulp Fiction" was released in 1995 as a single on MetalHeadz (MET H 011) where his surname was incorrectly listed as "Reese" on the first batch. "Pulp Fiction" was also later released on an album by Goldie, again on his MetalHeadz label, preventing Reece from putting it out on his own album ''So Far'' on the label, 4th & Broadway. Instead Reece produced a remake of "Pulp Fiction" called "Pulp Friction", released in 1996. The two-step break used in "Pulp Fiction" sparked numerous imitators. Reece cemented his reputation with additional recordings as Jazz Juice (for Precious Materials), Lunar Funk (for Mo'Wax), and the Original Playboy (for R&S). In early 1995, Reece secured a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

when

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

recruited him for their Quango subsidiary. His debut album, ''So Far'' was released in September 1996, but whilst the issue was well received in most circles, the jungle underground – led by Goldie – had practically disowned Reece by that time. His 1996 singles " Feel the Sunshine", "Candles" and "Acid Lab" were released under the Fourth & Broadway banner without real commercial success.

References

External links

* * * Alex Reece Social Media Account https://www.instagram.com/reecednbfamilyofficial/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Reece, Alex Year of birth missing (living people) Living people DJs from London English drum and bass musicians English record producers English audio engineers Remixers People from Chipping Barnet Musicians from Hertfordshire Electronic dance music DJs Island Records artists