Thinking Of You

In this era of disposable popular music and flavor of the month idols, there remain a few song stylists who truly study their craft, sing songs with meaning and substance, and strive to create a significant body of work that will stand the test of time. Victor Fields is one such artist. He's a romantic dreamer, an optimistic believer who committed to and invested in himself. He's in it for the love: love of singing, love of song, and love of performing. His fourth album, Thinking Of You, led Fields to discovering his identity as a vocalist. It's also the album his fans have been waiting for. It's up-tempo and soulful, described Fields. It's pretty much the same formula in that it's smooth vocals over funky tracks. It's decidedly more fun, more upbeat and more danceable. It's also the first album Fields made that will specifically appeal to smooth jazz listeners. He's evolved from being a jazz vocalist with overt urban tendencies into a smooth jazz vocalist, which admittedly is somewhat of a rare breed in a format that predominantly spotlights guitars, horns and keyboardists. This album feels like home to me. The music was fun and challenging. Smooth jazz is a format I'm comfortable with and it naturally suits my style. Fields was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts. For a while, the family was bi-coastal as they also had a home near Los Angeles in Southern California. His mother was a singer and a Julliard-trained pianist, but she gave up her passion for her family, never pursuing her gift. In the house, she exposed Fields to classical, blues and pop music. Music took the family to a different place. For them, music was spiritual and had a grounding effect. After attending Bowdoin College as a political science major, Fields became a successful businessman while living in the Bay Area. He started singing as a hobby and took vocal lessons to help develop his voice. While trying to find his voice, he sang all types of music in various settings. He attended songwriting demo derbies because he wanted to write songs, but also to learn how to identify a great song. Fields is lyrically motivated in his song selection process. For me, it's about the song, which is the raw product. I sing songs as I feel them, whether I wrote it or if someone else wrote it. I've been taught to understand the story and to fall in love one song at a time. After his mother passed, Fields was inspired to make a major change in life. Years from now, I didn't want to say, 'What if?' or 'I should have.' I gave up singing to pursue a more practical career, but it came back to me at a higher level than before. Through a friend, he connected with Grammy-nominated producer-songwriter Kashif (Evelyn Champagne King, Kenny G, George Benson, Whitney Houston, Dionne Warwick). The result was Fields' 1998 debut album, Promise. A few years later, Fields met Chris Camozzi, a guitarist who has topped the smooth jazz radio charts as a solo artist and has accompanied such voices as Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey. In Camozzi, Fields found someone who truly knew how to listen to his voice and bring the best performances out of him, both in the recording studio and on stage. Camozzi's vision meshed with and enriched Fields' own musical vision. Their first collaboration was 2002's 52nd Street album, which landed on Billboard's jazz album chart. The critically-acclaimed disc produced by Camozzi included guest performances by Chris Botti, Jeff Lorber and Gerald Albright. Last year, Fields and Camozzi were back in the studio together to create the Victor album. The collection of love songs was comprised of several standards along with material from contemporary songwriters Diane Warren, Stevie Wonder, Vince Gill and Chuck Loeb. It was an expansive disc with songs that ran the gamut from traditional and contemporary jazz, R&B and adult pop to theatrical Broadway-esque tunes. The album's closer, It's Never Too Late In Life, is an inspirational song that serves as kind of a personal anthem for Fields. Music is an extension of who I