Songwriting, Producing & Vocal Arranging
Quetzal – QUETZANIMALES (2014)
Come and listen to the world made by the band’s latest album Quetzanimales. In “Intro (Sun Rises Over The East Side),” the steady note of Peter Jacobson’s cello stretches our bodies open toward the urban-scape configuring a sense of equilibrium among the worldly matter that is suspended and released throughout our planet. In this, their sixth album release Quetzal turns to the matter of animals in urban space—including roosters, ants, owls, geese, squirrels, coyotes, pigeons, spiders, dogs, and butterflies—to imagine a world not merely from the animal’s perspective but that shatters the colonial distinctions between persons, things, and animals. The […]
Quetzal – Imaginaries (2012)
“Quetzal is an eclectic, unpredictable Mexican-American outfit that combines a variety of influences– Mexican, Cuban, Spanish, So. American, rock, soul, jazz & folk. [The band doesn’t specialize in mariachi, ranchero, or Tejano — 3 styles of music that are quite popular among Mexican-Americans, but they have been influenced by traditional Mexican folk. Quetzal favors a bilingual approach; some of their lyrics are in English & some are in Spanish — which is appropriate because the outfit’s music acknowledges different cultures.” — All Music Guide Release Date: February 28, 2012 Label: Smithsonian/Folkways Track Listing 2+0+1+2=Cinco (2+0+1+2=Five) Imaginaries Estoy Aquí (I Am […]
Susana Baca – Afrodiaspora (2011)
For decades, Grammy Award winner Susana Baca has represented Peruvian music to the world. Here, Susana gives voice to her life-long immersion in the music of the African Diaspora. The songs of African descendants in Cuba, Argentina, New Orleans, and across the world…the rhythms of forro, cumbia, tango… Afrodiaspora is a travelog that spans centuries and continents through the voice of one of the world’s most celebrated singers. Release Date: May 10, 2011 Label: Luaka Bop Credits: Grimanesa Amoros Photography; Elizabeth Andrade Assistant; Susana Baca Arranger, Concept, Primary Artist; Miguel Ballumbrosio Composer; Iván Benavides Composer; Billy Branch Guest Artist, Harmonica; […]
Checo Alonso – Lluvia De Cuerdas (2010)
Ethnomusicologist, educator, and recording artist, Sergio “Checo” Alonso is a native of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. The son of Mexican immigrants from Guadalajara and San Luis Potosi, Alonso began his research on Mexican and Latin American music in 1994 as an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he concentrated on the performance of the Mexican mariachi and jarocho traditions, studying the vihuela, jarana, guitarron and especially the trumpet and harp. His exploration of Mexican folk music led him to study with some of Mexico’s most revered folk musicians, including jarocho harp virtuoso Alberto de la Rosa […]
Maya Jupiter – Maya Jupiter (2010)
In December 2010, Jupiter released her second album, Maya Jupiter with Blacc assisting on recording and Quetzal Flores and Martha Gonzalez (both are members of Quetzal) co-producing. OC Weekly‘s reviewer, Gabriel San Roman described the album as “an innovative collection of songs anchored in lyrical themes of social justice and son jarocho vibes” and was pleased by “[t]he sample-free, original instrumentation [which] adds to her music’s unique appeal. A Latin American harp, requintos, jaranas, electric guitars, trumpets and keys round out her melodies, and there’s a striking use of live percussion instruments such as the quijada, cajón, tarima and pandiero […]
Monte Carlo 76 – Marisela (2008)
Sometimes life gets in the way of art, which is why it has taken Monte Carlo 76 five years to release their second album, Marisela. Interweaving the band’s personal struggles with love and heartbreak, death and relocations, Marisela is an ode to East L.A. and the people who live there. Monte Carlo 76 was born in 2003 from the remains of keyboardist Gomez Comes Alive and guitarist Jeremy Keller’s former group Slowrider. Rooted in Chicano soul but inspired by the mellow electronica of Air and Stereolab, their debut album, The Monte Carlo Fantasy (TMCF), was critically acclaimed and garnered them […]
