Tag: Grammy Award

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tinariwen Shares Breathtakingly Gorgeous “Sagherat Assan”

Pioneering Grammy Award-winning, Tuareg musical pioneers and JOVM mainstays Tinariwen just announced that their tenth studio album Hoggar is slated for a March 13, 2026 release through their own label, Wedge. The album derives itself from the Hoggar mountains, a defiant marker of presence visible for miles and a symbol of a homeland for displaced people.

Long known for being fierce advocates for their people’s nomadic culture that exists in the desert borderlands between Mail and Algeria, the acclaimed JOVM mainstays bluesy, guitar-driven music has found global acclaim for its blend of dexterous, Western rock-styled guitar work, Tamasheq language-driven political bent, syncopated rhythms and soaring melodies.

More than 45 years into their lengthy and storied career, Hoggar reportedly sees the acclaimed masters of the desert blues returning to the foundations of their sound with the band returning to their early years of songwriting with acoustic guitars and communal singing around the desert campfire. The album also sees the band staking their claim as elders of the Tuareg musical tradition while also passing the torch onto a younger generation of featured musicians, who can continue to keep their culture’s flame of rebellion and defiance alive.

Known for recording amid the windswept expanse of the Central Saharan desert, the acclaimed JOVM mainstays have long drawn inspiration from the rhythms of nature. With political unrest in Mali prompting the band to seek new spaces, the founding members, who are now based in Algeria recorded the album in studio set up by young Tuareg band and mentees Imarhan in Tamanrasset, which continues their legacy of innovation and collaboration.

While previously released albums like 2023’s Amatssou saw Tinariwen collaborating with acclaimed producer Daniel Lanois, on Hoggar the band looked closer to home. Gathering with the local Tuareg musical community for a month, founding members Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni and Touhami Ag Alhassane began writing songs fueled by political unrest alongside young artists like Imarhan’s Iyad Moussa Ben Abderrahmane, Hicham Bouhasse  and Haiballah Akhamouk. The band also collaborated with Terekaft‘s Sanou Ag Hamed and Tinariwen co-founder Liya ag Abill, a.k.a. Diarra for the first time in 25 years.

The album also marks some other firsts: The band’s lead vocalist Ibrahim and Abdallah sing together for the first time in over 30 years, breaking their long-held tradition of each songwriting performing only their own compositions. And there’s a guest spot from acclaimed longtime fan José González.

Lyrically, Hoggar explores urgent and timely themes, addressing the social and political challenges facing the Tuareg people and northern Mali. The band continues their long tradition of bearing witness through their work, balancing the joy of their celebrated lie shows with reflections on community struggles, resilience and the need for cultural preservation.

Hoggar’s first single “Sagherat Assan,” is a gorgeous, soulful rendition of a traditional Sudanese song anchored around shimmering and expressive acoustic guitar, syncopated handclap-driven rhythm and yearning harmonies. The song also features mesmerizing, melismatic vocals from Sudanese artist Sulafa Elyas. Much like the bulk of the JOVM mainstays acclaimed work, at the core of “Sagherat Assan” is a deep sense of longing for the homeland — and a sense of responsibility of passing the culture onward to the next generation, before it disappears.

“Sagherat Assan” is a traditional song carried from Sudan to the Sahara, Japonais (one of the band founders who died in 2021) and I were in Al Kufrah (a city at the border between Sudan and Libya) in 1989, when I was beginning to learn the guitar,” the band’s Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni explains. “We met a musician who was playing this song and loved it so much that  Japonais learned it and began performing it again and again, allowing it to travel and endure. This version features Sulafa Elyas, an extraordinary Sudanese singer and oud player now living in exile in France.” 

“The female voice is very important in traditional Tuareg music but it is increasingly hard to find female singers today owing to restrictions placed on them being allowed to sing and train,” the band’s longtime collaborator and producer Patrick Votan adds. “We were lucky to find singers like Sulafa as well as Wonou Walet Sidati, who used to record and tour with Tinariwen in the past, and Nounou Kaola, who also feature on this album.”

The equally gorgeous, animated video by Axel Digoix features the band and their collaborators performing and recording the song in the expanse of the Sahara Desert as the sun sets and the stars come out. The video captures deep bonds of friendship and a passing of the torch to a younger generation.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms
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Live Concert Photography: Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage: Charlie Parker Jazz Festival Day 2: 8/23/25 feat. Branford Marsalis Quartet with Nicholas Payton, Bertha Hope Quartet, Georgia Heers and DJ Kultured Child

Live concert photography of Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage’s Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, Day 2 feat. Branford Marsalis Quartet, Nicholas Payton, Bertha Hope Quartet, Georgia Heers and DJ Kultured Child.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Doechii Shares Surreal and Anxious Visual for “Anxiety”

Last year was a breakthrough year for Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Heal was released to critical praise from NPR, Paste, Consequence, Stereogum and UPROXX while coming in at #1 on Rolling Stone‘s “The 20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2024” and in the top 10 of their overall “Best Albums of 2024” list. And unless you were living in a cave or just awoken from a coma, you’d recall that earlier this year, the acclaimed artist won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

Adding other a boatload of accolades, Doechii was recently named Woman of the Year at the Billboard Women in Music event and Outstanding Music Artist at the GLAAD Media Awards.

Her latest single “Anxiety,” follows “DENIAL IS A RIVER,” which debuted at # 1 on both the Official Physical Singles and Official Vinyl Singles charts, and was released last month through Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol Records, and has already amassed over 272 million combined global streams, include 85 million domestic streams and more than 23 billion views across her social media. And if you somehow hadn’t heard the song on the radio or on your DSP of choice, you’d be familiar with the song because it’s gone viral and has become a firmly buried earworm. The song is remarkably catchy but it also continues to showcase one of our moment’s most unique and wildly talented artists — and some of the most inventive production you’ll hear in pop and hip-hop.

Directed by James Mackel, the accompanying video follows the acclaimed artist as she makes her way through an elegant mansion with an overly attentive staff. However, the luxurious setting is fraught with disturbing, deeply surreal, anxiety-inducing and/or terrifying situations, including a raging kitchen fire, an enormous and menacing Doberman, a falling chandelier, a team of black-clad, ninja-like intruders, who break through the windows, two creepy twins, before ending with a collection of “Thriller”-like dancers that turns into a Broadway-styled dance scene. It’s playful yet deeply unsettling.

“Anxiety” is Doechii’s first single to enter Billboard‘s Hot 100’s Top 10. Currently, the track is in the Top 20 of the Top 40 and Urban Radio Charts. And it currently ranks in on the To 10 on the Rhythm radio charts. The track is currently #12 on the Spotify Global Charts and Top 5 on the UK’s Official Singles Charts.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Knocks and Dragonette Shares Slick, 80s Synth-Inspired “Revelation”

New York-based electronic music duo The Knocks — James Patterson and Ben Ruttner — are a prolific, Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum selling electronic dance music production and artist duo known for crafting a carefree and fun, deeply New York-inspired sound that draws from disco, house, hip-hop, soul. funk, indie and pop.

Their three full-length albums. five EPs and multiple smash hit singles have amassed over 2.5 billion streams globally. Adding to a global profile, the duo have played DJ sets and live sets at venues, clubs and festivals globally, while making a run of the domestic, late night TV circuit with performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Adding to a rising global platform, the New York-based duo have collaborated with an eclectic array of artists across the musical spectrum including Foster The People, MGMT, MUNA, Cam’ron, Wyclef, Method Man, Purple Disco Machine, ODESZA, JOVM mainstays SOFI TUKKER and pop superstars Billie Eilish, Carly Rare Jepsen and Charli XCX.

Martina Sorbara, is a Juno Award-winning, Toronto-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, best known as Dragonette has managed to live multiple musical lifetimes over the past 15 years. A highly sought-after songwriter, Sorbara has scored numerous global hits, including “Pick Up the Phone,” “Let It Go,” and the chart-topping “Hello” with Martin Solveig.

Sorbara has collaborated with some of the world’s biggest DJs, including Basement Jaxx, Kaskade and Galantis while releasing four critically acclaimed albums, including 2009’s Juno Award-nominated Fixin to Thrill and 2012’s Bodyparts. Along the way, the Canadian artist has headlined shows across the globe. Adding to a global profile, she has opened for Duran Duran, New Order, Ke$sha and Miike Snow while playing at some of the biggest festivals across the global scene, including Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival, Glastonbury and Lollapalooza.

A longtime priority songwriter with Sony/ATV Publishing, Sorbara has regularly worked with acts on UMG, Warner Music, Syco and Spinnin.‘ Her musically diverse credits include songs for Keith Urban, Cyndi Lauper, Pretty Sister, Mike Mago and Carly Rae Jepsen.

The Knocks and Dragonette first collaborated on 2019’s Grammy-nominated single “Slow Song.” They continue their successful collaboration with “Revelation,” a slick, hook-driven, 80s synth pop-inspired bop centered around glistening and arpeggio synths that brings Stevie Nicks‘ “Stand Back” to mind paired with Sorbara’s yearning, pop starlet delivery. The song is an effortless club and lounge friendly bop.

The accompanying visualizer s set in a 1980s corporate lineal space at the fictional company Revelation Technologies and features RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Aquaria, the muse behind the song.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: John Finbury and Bruna Black Share Swooning Ballad “Uma Noite Com Voce”

Andover, MA-based Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer, composer and JOVM mainstay John Finbury collaborated with rising São Paulo-based singer/songwriter Bruna Black on his latest album Vã Revelação, which was released earlier this year. 

Vã Revelação presents a broad array of subgenres under the large umbrella of Brazilian jazz. So there are the beloved and classic bossa nova and samba tunes. But there are also Baião, Partido, Alto, Forró and Afoxê among other styles. 

Over the past handful of months, I’ve written about four album singles:

  • “Chão De Nuvem,” a soulful year breezy tune featuring an arrangement of fluttering accordion, a supple bass line, shuffling percussion. The song gorgeously — and effortlessly — meshes elements of samba, jazz fusion and pop while being a perfect vehicle for Bruna Black’s languorous yet soulful delivery. 

  • “Será,” a song built around a gorgeous arrangement of shimmering acoustic guitar by Chico Pinheiro, a supple and sinuous bass line from John Pattiucci that’s roomy enough for Black’s expressive vocal. Fittingly released at the end of last year, the song is a meditation on the passing of time, the choices and plans we make that work out and the ones that fail — with the understanding that all of it influences who we are, and who we will become. 

  • Album title track “Vã Revelação,” a breathtakingly gorgeous yet bittersweet tune, anchored around the classic shuffle and sway of bossa nova featuring shimmering, strummed guitar, a supple bass line, twinkling and expressive bursts of piano serving as a lush bed for Black’s stunning vocal turn. Much like its predecessors, “Vã Revelação” is meditative yet breezy, a blast of summer — but full of the recognition of the passing of time, and of regrets, hopes dashed and hopes to be had again. 

  • “Para Me Entender,” a much jazzier take on Bossa nova than its predecessor, anchored around a loose, swinging arrangement that displays each musician’s chops with a self-assured swagger. But the true star of the affair is Bruna Black, who reveals herself as a stylistic chameleon, whose voice can shift in colors, registers and expression within the turn of a phrase.

Vã Revelação‘s fifth and latest single, “Uma Noite Com Voce” features a gently swaying, jazz standard-tinged, Bossa nova ballad composition written by Finbury performed by Vitor Gonçalves (guitar), John Patitucci (piano, Rhodes), Daduka Da Fonseca (bass), Rogério Boccato (percussion) paired with gorgeous lyrics written by Vitor Ramil Chico Pinheiro. And much like its predecessors, “Uma Noite Com Voce,” continues to showcase Bruna Black as a remarkably talented vocalist, who can effortlessly tackle any style with a self-assured yet earnest, lived-in take.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: John Finbury and Bruna Black Team Up on Breezy and Expressive “Para Me Entender”

Andover, MA-based Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer, composer and JOVM mainstay John Finbury collaborated with rising São Paulo-based singer/songwriter Bruna Black on his latest album Vã Revelação, which was released earlier this year.

Vã Revelação presents a broad array of subgenres under the large umbrella of Brazilian jazz. So there are the beloved and classic bossa nova and samba tunes. But there are also Baião, Partido, Alto, Forró and Afoxê among other styles.

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about three previously released singles:

  • “Chão De Nuvem,” a soulful year breezy tune featuring an arrangement of fluttering accordion, a supple bass line, shuffling percussion. The song gorgeously — and effortlessly — meshes elements of samba, jazz fusion and pop while being a perfect vehicle for Bruna Black’s languorous yet soulful delivery. 

  • “Será,” a song built around a gorgeous arrangement of shimmering acoustic guitar by Chico Pinheiro, a supple and sinuous bass line from John Pattiucci that’s roomy enough for Black’s expressive vocal. Fittingly released at the end of last year, the song is a meditation on the passing of time, the choices and plans we make that work out and the ones that fail — with the understanding that all of it influences who we are, and who we will become. 

  • Album title track “Vã Revelação,” a breathtakingly gorgeous yet bittersweet tune, anchored around the classic shuffle and sway of bossa nova featuring shimmering, strummed guitar, a supple bass line, twinkling and expressive bursts of piano serving as a lush bed for Black’s stunning vocal turn. Much like its predecessors, “Vã Revelação” is meditative yet breezy, a blast of summer — but full of the recognition of the passing of time, and of regrets, hopes dashed and hopes to be had again. 

Vã Revelação‘s fourth and latest single “Para Me Entender” is a much jazzier take on Bossa nova than its predecessor, anchored around a loose, swinging arrangement that displays each musician’s chops with a self-assured swagger. But the true star of the affair is Bruna Black, who reveals herself as a stylistic chameleon, whose voice can shift in colors, registers and expression within the turn of a phrase.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Sarah Lake Shares Ernie Lake’s Nu-Disco Remix of “Soul Shaker”

Lake relocated to Nashville back in 2017. And since then she has released music that has been featured on Tidal, Apple Music and a variety of Spotify playlists. As a songwriter, the Canadian-born and now-Nashville-based artist has written songs for The Voice Season 13 finalist Moriah Formica, Ms. America Betty Cantrell — and Reba McEntire took her song “Amen” into the studio in 2018.

And although as a songwriter, she continues to write material across a range of formats and styles, as an artist, Lake’s work has firmly in the realm of Americana/folk.

Her latest songs “Devil in My Head” and Messy” have been featured on Nashville-based radio station Lightning 100. “Missing Home” has been added to several Apple Music playlists. And the video for “Wide Eyed Girl” was added to CMT online.

Released earlier this year, the Everette and Lake cowritten “Soul Shaker” is a hook-driven and anthemic bit of country pop — or perhaps pop country? — that captures the swooning sensation of love with a folksy and lived-in earnestness. Recently, Ernie Lake, who remixed Pink‘s “Get The Party Started” and Taylor Swift’s “Willow” among a lengthy list of others, remixed “Soul Shaker,” turning the track into a summery, Stevie Nicks “Stand Back”-meets disco heyday-like bop featuring wah-wah pedaled funk guitar, soaring and cinematic bursts of strings, conga, and a relentless funky groove — all of which seem to serve and emphasize Lake’s easy-going soulful delivery.

Lake hopes that the song will take listeners to a happy place and back to simpler times of roller skating rinks and dance floors.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: John Finbury and Bruna Black Share Breathtakingly Beautiful “Vã Revelação”

Andover, MA-based Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer and composer John Finbury spent his teenaged years playing in rock bands at New York’s legendary The Bitter End. He then went on to study classical piano, music theory and composition at the Longy School of Music at Bard College and at Boston University. 

Back in 2014, the Andover-based musician and composer released The Green Flash, a four song EP of original compositions of Brazilian jazz. All four songs received nominations for the 2015 American Songwriting Awards with “SambaDan” winning for Best Instrumental. Finbury followed The Green Flash EP with 2015’s 11-song Brazilian jazz effort Imaginário featuring vocalist Marcella Camargo and some of Boston’s best players, including Fernando Huergo, Mark Walker, Tim Ray, Claudio Ragazzi, Roberto Cassan and Ricardo Monzon. Finbury surprised the Latin music world when Imaginário track “A Chama Verde” received a Latin Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.

2017’s Pitanga was released to critical acclaim. Adding to a rapidly growing profile in the Latin music scene, Finbury’s third album, the Emilio D. Miler-produced Sorte!, which saw him collaborating with vocalist Thalma de Freitas and an All-Star band featuring Vitor Gonçalves, Chico Pinheiro, Duduka de Fonseca, John Patitucci, Rogerio Boccato and Airto Moreira received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Jazz album. 

2020 saw the release of two albums of originals: American Nocturnes: Final Days of July, an album of intimate chamber jazz compositions featuring arrangements for piano, cello, guitar, accordion and harmonica — and Quatro, a Latin jazz album featuring Lagos Herrera, Chano Domínguez, John Pattiucci and Antonio Sánchez. 

During the pandemic, the Andover-based musician and composer collaborated with French jazz vocalist Camille Bertault. They recorded and released “Look at What a Mess You Made of Me,” which featured Christian McBride (bass) and “Boulevard,” which featured Larry Gouldings (organ) and Billy Martin (drums). 

In 2021, following the death of the legendary Chick Correa, Finbury and de Freitas wrote and recorded “Ring The Bells” as a tribute to the man and his influential work. 

In 2022 Finbury wrote and released three original Brazilian jazz compositions recorded in São Paulo by Mestrinho (accordion), Michael Pipoquinho (bass), Cainã Cavalcante (guitar), Celso de Almeida (drums) and Leo Rodrigues (percussion). 

Last year was a very busy year for Finbury: He continued an ongoing collaboration with Magos Herrera and recorded and released three original compositions of Chamber Jazz. The Andover-based musician and composer also continued his successful collaboration with Miler, who introduced him to rising São Paulo-based singer/songwriter Bruna Black. 

Black wound up contributing vocals to Finbury’s latest album Vã Revelação, which was released earlier this year. In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two previously released singles:

“Chão De Nuvem,” a soulful year breezy tune featuring an arrangement of fluttering accordion, a supple bass line, shuffling percussion. The song gorgeously — and effortlessly — meshes elements of samba, jazz fusion and pop while being a perfect vehicle for Bruna Black’s languorous yet soulful delivery.

“Será,” a song built around a gorgeous arrangement of shimmering acoustic guitar by Chico Pinheiro, a supple and sinuous bass line from John Pattiucci that’s roomy enough for Black’s expressive vocal. Fittingly released at the end of last year, the song is a meditation on the passing of time, the choices and plans we make that work out and the ones that fail — with the understanding that all of it influences who we are, and who we will become.

Album title track “Vã Revelação,” is a breathtakingly gorgeous yet bittersweet tune, anchored around the classic shuffle and sway of bossa nova featuring shimmering, strummed guitar, a supple bass line, twinkling and expressive bursts of piano serving as a lush bed for Black’s stunning vocal turn. Much like its predecessors, “Vã Revelação” is meditative yet breezy, a blast of summer — but full of the recognition of the passing of time, and of regrets, hopes dashed and hopes to be had again.

Music Festivals by William Ruben Helms

Happy May Day! And with Spring fully upon us, that means more festival announcements, y’all! So let’s get to it.

Richmond, VA-based music festival Iron Blossom Festival is presented in collaboration with:

Starr Hill Presents, an independently owned and operated concert promoter based in Charlottesville, VA that promotes over 300 events each year, ranging from small club shows to multi-day festivals. The company operates multiple local venues and have partnered in festivals across the country, including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, SXSW, Pilgrimage and more.

IMGoing Events, a full-service, independent entertainment company providing first-class live experiences and an innovative leader in the production, booking and marketing of live entertainment events including festivals, concerts and all types of special events. The company creates creates premier concerts and event experiences by offering the most intimate engagements.

Haymaker Productions, a production and promotion company that has been producing and promoting concerts in the Richmond area since 2002. The Haymaker Productions team also provides production support for events such as the Olympics, Burning Man, World Cup and Formula One racing while continuing to curate the area’s favorite outdoor concerts at Maymount.

Grand Rising Curations, an independent concert and festival promoter producing shows and providing talent buying, marketing, ticketing and production services throughout the United States.

Iron Blossom Music Festival will return to Richmond, VA for the second year. Taking place September 21, 2024 – September 22, 2024, the festival will be an end of summer celebration with two days of incredible music, food, art and fun at the Training Center on Leigh (formerly Bon Secours Training Center).

The festival draws from its host city’s vibrant and diverse community to bring fans a unique musical experience, with local artists sharing the stage with regional acts and national headliners. This year’s headliners include indie folk-leaning indie rock outfit Mt. Joy; CAAMP, who will be playing their only Southeast show this year; Americana group Turnpike Troubadours and Grammy-nominated soul outfit Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. The festival’s lineup also includes Trampled by Turtles, Hippo Campus, Joy Oladokun, Indigo De Souza, The California Honeydrops, Royel Otis, Sumbuck, Chance Peña, Say She She, River Whyless, Susto, SG Goodman, Julia Pratt, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Victoria Canal, Dogpark, Jack Wharff & The Tobacco Flatts, and Kenneka Cook.

Iron Blossom Music Festival’s second edition will be expanding this year’s footprint to include a larger food court an artisan bazaar, a GA+ Lounge and additional free water stations and shade structures while still offering the best of Central Virginia’s food, beverage and maker communities. Fans will continue to enjoy farm to table and delicious street foods, craft beats and cocktails, and wears from dozens of artisan vendors. A VIP experience is also being offered, giving fans up-close views, an exclusive lounge with cash bars, vendors, and more.

Fans can guarantee themselves Tier 1 ticket pricing by signing up for the exclusive email/text presale at IronBlossomFestival.com. Tickets will be on sale to the general public tomorrow at noon at IronBlossomFestival.com.

“Last year’s event truly was a celebration of the vibrant community here in Richmond. We can’t wait to bring everyone together again for another amazing weekend of music,” IMGoing Events’ Ken MacDonald says.

“The city of Richmond continues to grow and thrive and the success of Iron Blossom is because of the people who live here and their enthusiasm for art and culture, especially live music. From the top notch lineup to the incredible food and beverage programming, Iron Blossom will again be one for the books” Haymaker Productions’ Tom Beals says.

Iron Blossom Lineup 

  • Mt. Joy
  • CAAMP
  • Turnpike Troubadours
  • Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
  • Trampled by Turtles
  • Hippo Campus
  • Joy Oladokun
  • Indigo De Souza
  • The California Honeydrops
  • Royel Otis
  • Sumbuck
  • Chance Pena
  • Say She She
  • River Whyless
  • Susto
  • SG Goodman
  • Julia Pratt
  • Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
  • Victoria Canal
  • Dogpark
  • Jack Wharff & The Tobacco Flatts
  • Kenneka Cook

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Larry & Joe is an acclaimed folk duo that performs a unique fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk featuring harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar, upright bass and whatever else they could fit in their tour van. The duo features:

  • Joe Troop, a North Carolina-based Grammy-nominated bluegrass and old-time musician, who spent over a decade in South America with his acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache. With the pandemic, Troop got stranded in his old stomping grounds and as a result, his primary project was forced into hiatus. Troop shifted into action, working with asylum seeking migrants. 
  • Larry Bellorín, a Monagas, Venezuela-born, North Carolina-based Llanera music legend, and asylum-seeking migrant. Bellorín has worked various construction jobs to make ends meet, and writes and performs music in whatever spare time allowed.

Currently based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Troop and Bellorín are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer/songwriters on a mission to prove that music has no borders and that music is the universal language. Their work is a distinct blend of their musical and cultural inheritances and traditions paired with storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce. 

The duo’s latest single is an ebullient rendition of “Mi Burrito Sabanero,” one of the most beloved and oft-covered Latin holiday songs ever written. The duo’s rendition features a bilingual intro and break, and lyrics mostly sung in Spanish, as well as a playful and dexterous nod to “Here Comes Santa Claus” on the violin. The song also adds some instrumentation to the arrangement that aren’t on the most known versions — including banjo and others. “Mi Burrito Sabanero” further cements the duo’s boundary busting sound and approach rooted in a deep empathy, playfulness and a much-needed sweet, kindness, while offering something for everyone to enjoy.

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Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: John Finbury Teams Up with Bruna Black on Breezy and Soulful “Chão De Nuvem”

Andover, MA-based Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer and composer John Finbury spent his teenaged years playing in rock bands at New York’s The Bitter End. Finbury went on to study classical piano, music theory and composition at the Longy School of Music at Bard College and at Boston University.

Back in 2014, the Andover-based musician and composer released The Green Flash, a four song EP of four original compositions of Brazilian jazz. All four songs received nominations for the 2015 American Songwriting Awards with “SambaDan” winning for Best Instrumental. Finbury followed The Green Flash EP with 2015’s 11-song Brazilian jazz effort Imaginário featuring vocalist Marcella Camargo and some of Boston’s best players, including Fernando Huergo, Mark Walker, Tim Ray, Claudio Ragazzi, Roberto Cassan and Ricardo Monzon. Finbury surprised the Latin music world when Imaginário track “A Chama Verde” received a Latin Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.

2017’s Pitanga was released to critical acclaim. Adding to a rapidly growing profile in the Latin music scene, Finbury’s third album, the Emilio D. Miler-produced Sorte!, which saw him collaborating with vocalist Thalma de Freitas and an All-Star band featuring Vitor Gonçalves, Chico Pinheiro, Duduka de Fonseca, John Patitucci, Rogerio Boccato and Airto Moreira received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Jazz album.

2020 saw the release of two albums of originals: American Nocturnes: Final Days of July featured intimate chamber jazz compositions featuring arrangements for piano, cello, guitar, accordion and harmonica — and Quatro, a Latin jazz album featuring Lagos Herrera, Chano Domínguez, John Pattiucci and Antonio Sánchez.

During the pandemic, the Andover-based musician and composer collaborated with French jazz vocalist Camille Bertault. They recorded and released “Look at What a Mess You Made of Me,” which featured Christian McBride (bass) and “Boulevard,” which featured Larry Gouldings (organ) and Billy Martin (drums).

In 2021, following the death of the legendary Chick Correa, Finbury and de Freitas wrote and recorded “Ring The Bells” as a tribute to the man and his heavily influential work.

Las year, Finbury wrote and released three original Brazilian jazz compositions recorded in São Paulo by Mestrinho (accordion), Michael Pipoquinho (bass), Cainã Cavalcante (guitar), Celso de Almeida (drums) and Leo Rodrigues (percussion).

This year looks to be very busy year for Finbury: He continued an ongoing collaboration with Magos Herrera and recorded and released three original compositions of Chamber Jazz. The Andover-based musician and composer also continued his successful collaboration with Miler, who introduced him to rising São Paulo-based singer/songwriter Bruna Black.

Black wound up contributing vocals to Finbury’s forthcoming album — and wrote the lyrics to two of them, including the album’s latest single “Chão De Nuvem.” Featuring a soulful yet breezy arrangement of fluttering accordion, a supple bass line, shuffling percussion to create a song that effortlessly and gorgeously meshes elements of samba, jazz fusion and pop that serves as a perfect vehicle for Black’s languorous and soulful delivery.

The song describes the São Paulo-based artist describing her journey in music starting with her breakthrough appearance on Brazil’s The Voice, and her rapid rise to fame with AVUA — and her collaboration with Finbury and his All-Star cast of musicians that brought her to New York.

Look for the album in Spring 2024.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Genesis Owusu Returns with a Breakneck, Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

Over the past couple of years, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the acclaimed Ghanian-born, Canberra-based JOVM mainstay Genesis Owusu. 

With the release of his debut EP, 2017’s Cardrive, Owusu — born Kofi Owusu-Anash — quickly established a reputation for being a restless, genre-blurring chameleon, whose work is rooted in powerful and deeply personal storytelling. 

Owusu-Anash’s critically applauded full-length debut, 2021’s Smiling With No Teeth as the acclaimed Ghanian-Aussie JOVM mainstay explained was essentially about “performing what the world wants to see, even if you don’t have the capacity to do so honestly. Slathering honey on your demons to make them palatable to people, who only want to know if you’re okay, if the answer is yes. That’s the idea, turned into beautiful, youthful, ugly, timeless and strange music.”

Building upon the momentum of Smiling With No Teeth, Owusu released the Missing Molars EP in July 2021. The five-track EP served as an accompaniment to his full-length debut. Recorded during the Smiling With No Teeth sessions, the Missing Molars EP hit the cutting floor and didn’t make the album, but they manage to further continue the soul-baring narrative of its predecessor. “Missing Molars is an extension of Smiling With No Teeth,” Owusu-Anash explained. “A small collection of tracks from the SWNT sessions that take the already established world-building groundwork of the album, and expand that universe into new and unexplored places. These are all tracks that I felt were special in their own right and needed to be shared. This is music without boundaries.” 

Adding to a breakthrough year, Owusu-Anash made his Stateside late night TV debut and went on several sold-out tours to support both SWNT and Missing Molars EP. SWNTlanded on a number of Best of Lists across the globe — with  triple j naming it their album of the year. The album also earned four ARIA Awards. including Album of the Year, Hip Hop Release, Artwork and Independent Release. 

Last year was an even busier year for the JOVM mainstay: He spent much of the year on the road, making stops across the global festival circuit, with sets at Lollapalooza, Osheaga and others. He also made his headlining Stateside debut, which included a high-energy, captivating stop at Bowery Ballroom, which I covered for my friends at Musicology.xyz.

The JOVM mainstay also opened for a series of internationally acclaimed and renowned artists including Khraungbin, Thundercat, and Tame Impala back in Australia. During a remarkably busy period, the acclaimed and rapidly rising Aussie artist also released two standalone singles:

  • “GTFO,” a woozy and anthemic song featuring a looped, warbling choir and wobbling bass serving as an eerie yet soaring bed for Owusu-Anash’s rapid-fire flow, military beats, explosive cymbal crashes and a shout-along-worthy chorus. While further cementing his reputation for being a restlessly experimental artist, the song also finds the listener thrown even deeper into the Ghanian-Aussie artist’s innermost world with an unvarnished, unsettling honesty. 

  • “Get Inspired,” a Dann Hume and Andrew Klippel co-produced seamless synthesis of elements of New Wave, EDM, punk and hip-hop centered around an angular and propulsive bass line, a relentless mootrik groove, distorted guitars and the JOVM’s punchily delivered lyrical jabs and uppercuts. Continuing Owusu-Anash’s reputation for boldly defying and mashing genres, there’s even a falsetto delivered breakdown roughly halfway through the song. (A portion of “Get Inspired” was used in an Apple Fitness+ ad campaign. So you’ve probably heard it without realizing it.)

Along with that, Grammy-nominated musician and producer ZHU remixed “Get Inspired” turning the menacing hybrid punk song into a grimy, club track centered around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering, trap triplets paired with tweeter and woofer rattling beats while retaining Owusu-Anash’s rapid staccato lyrical jabs and uppercuts. ZHU also contributed a couple of auto-tuned, swaggering bars that helps to step up the original’s world-dominating swagger. 

The acclaimed Aussie artist’s highly-anticipated sophomore album STRUGGLER is slated for a Friday release through OURNESS/AWAL. Where Smiling With No Teeth thematically uncovered one Black man’s battles against — and with — depression and racism, STRUGGLER is reportedly an exploration of the chaos and absurdity of life, our ability to endure and how to get through it all. The album’s material is deeply inspired by a close friend hitting the brink and coming through the other side, along with questions of life and beauty that he found himself contemplating during readings of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. 

Recorded between the States and Australia, STRUGGLER‘s producers traverse musical genres — and includes Jason Evigan, who has worked with RUFUS DU SOL and SZA; Mikey Freedom Hart, who worked on Jon Batiste’s 2021 Grammy of the Year Album, We Are; Sol Was, who worked on Beyoncé’s Renaissance; and his long-time collaborators and producers Andrew Klippel and Dave Hammer.

Additionally, Owusu has collaborated with acclaimed Kiwi-based Lisa Reihana on the album’s complete visual identity. Reihana’s work has been showcased in elite institutions throughout the States and the EU, including the Venice Biennale for her critically-acclaimed video installation, In Pursuit of Venus [Infected]. Her work spans across a diverse of media — including film, costume and body adornment and video installation, and as a result she has earned a reputation as a world-renowned artist and producer, who engages in thought-provoking dialogues around the concert of culture. 

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s singles:

“Leaving the Light,” an urgent ripper that begins with a spine-crawling run of bass notes before quickly morphing into breakneck sFreedom of Choice-era DEVO-like anthem paired with the JOVM’s swaggering, larger-than-life presence and his unerring knack for rousing, shout along worthy choruses. “Leaving the Light” is a cathartic song about survival and perseverance that feels necessary in a mad, mad, mad world.

The Sol Was-produced “Tied Up!,” a swaggering and funky bop built around a propulsive stomp, swirling and warped funk guitar and wobbling bass synths paired with the JOVM mainstay’s forceful delivery. The song speaks of the struggle of getting by in an uneasy, insane world and desperately holding onto yourself as best as you can in the process.

STRUGGLER‘s third and latest single “Stay Blessed” is a breakneck, mosh pit friendly anthem built around buzzing, angular guitar attack, rapid-fire beats paired with the JOVM mainstay’s punchy delivery. Much like the previously released singles, “Stay Blessed” speaks of survival and desperate resilience in a mad, mad, mad world that’s out to destroy you.

Directed by Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore, the accompanying video for “Stay Blessed” features Owusu wearing a white tank top, black pants and shaved head with red painted stripe moshing to the song with a collection of his Roaches, fans from across Australia that happily showed up to the Melbourne-based video shoot with shaved heads — or ready to shave their heads — and dawn the album’s red stripe on their heads.

“7 days before this was shot, i put up an instagram story asking if anyone was available at this specific time, at this specific place, but most importantly, if they were a baldy / were down to shave and colour their head for me. Thank you to the 70 people who flew up, drove down, and skipped work to come mosh with me. Roaches 4L. ‘Stay Blessed’ out now!!”- Roach number 1

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Diamond Day Shares Breezy “Fiction Feel”

Montréal-based duo Diamond Day features two highly acclaimed musicians in their own right:

  • Vermont-born Béatrix Méthé was raised with the traditional music of rural Québec. Her family moved to Canada when she was baby, and she grew up acquiring Lanaudiere’s regional repertoire from her father, the founder of legendary folk-trad group Le Rêve du Diable. Her mother, a singer-songwriter and fine arts graduate versed in early digital media, inspired Méthé’s own aesthetic. After spending some time venturing deeper into visual art, Béthé moved to Montréal to study filmmaking, but wound up discovering indie and psychedelic folk music along the way. She cut her studies short in 2015 to pursue music full-time, fronting acclaimed outfit Rosier, whose unique fusion of Québécois folk and indie rock garnered multiple nominations and awards — and lead them to tour across 15 countries with stops at SXSW, NPR’s Mountain Stage and the BBC. 

  • Western Canada-born Quinn Bachand grew up in a home where art was omnipresent and the family’s 40-year-old record collection was on an omnipresent loop. As the son of a luthier, Bachand began playing guitars handmade by his father and was touring internationally by the time he turned 12. After graduating from Berklee College of Music back in 2019 on a presidential scholarship, the Western Canadian-born multi-instrumentalist spent time in the Grammy-nominated band Kittel & Co. His involvement in the US folk scene prompted collaborations with a number of like-minded artists, including Chris Thile. In 2019, Bachand began collaborating with Méthé and Rosier, quickly establishing himself as an influential, genre-bending producer.

That initial successful collaboration with Rosier lead to the duo’s forthcoming full-length debut as Diamond Day, Connect the Dots Slated for a fall 2023 release, the Canadian duo’s full-length debut reportedly sees them crafting a sound that weaves elements of folk, indie rock, electronica, shoegaze and dream pop into a unique take on alt-pop.

Earlier this year, I wrote about Connect the Dots‘ first single “Noisemaker,” which was built around tape-saturated organ echo, fluttering synths, blown out beats, a sinuous bass line and lush, painterly sheogazer-like guitar textures paired with Méthé’s gorgeous vocals. The result — to my ears at least — reminded me of a mix of Beach House and Souvlaki-era Slowdive with a subtle amount of glitchiness.

The album’s second and latest single “Fiction Feel” is a breezy, summertime dream of a song built around a glitch pop soundscape featuring vintage tape recordings, glistening synths and a shuffling organ drum machine before quickly morphing into a lush New Wave/post-punk anthem that brings Cocteau Twins and Violens to mind.

Directed by Natan B. Foisy, the accompanying video is shot in a gorgeous, cinematic black and white an features a collection of Montréal area theater club teens in a school auditorium. We see the teens as they cycle through a series of different emotions in an oddly bipolar yet playful fashion.

“We recorded ‘Fiction Feel’ a few times over the past year or so. Initially, it was very ‘post-punk,'” Diamond Day’s Quinn Bachand explains in press notes. ” I had just watched Converse PURPLE video which featured ‘Cries and Whispers’ by New Order and I was getting into a lot of newer stuff in that vein, especially Cate le Bon’s latest album. Ultimately, we don’t sound anything like that, so the arrangement turned into a bit of a frankenstein. We re-wrote melodies, and added and muted stuff. Before we sent it out to get mixed by Elijah [Marrett-Hitch], we removed tons of unused tracks and weird outdated plugins that were constantly making Pro Tools crash.”

“The song ended up being a little glitchy. Lo-fi thrift store keyboards, cheap classical guitars, archived speech recordings and arena-rocky drums,” the duo’s Béatrix Méthé says.  

“One of our mix notes to Elijah was, ‘Make the drums a bit more douchey, like Eric Valentine,” Bachand adds.

“We wanted it to evolve from tiny and creepy like The Books to big and bombastic like Depeche Mode. But we wanted it to remain catchy and dancey,” Méthé says.

“We love how The Books use extremely edited found sounds to intensify emotional moments and create a really unique feel. There’s so much subtle information–both melodic and rhythmic–packed into speech and these dated home recordings have so much depth,” says Bachand.

“We’re both folk musicians. Slightly jaded ones… [when it comes to folk music] we really only listen to archives now–rare home recordings of musicians in rural areas. There are tons of old reel-to-reel and cassette recordings across the country with this material, anyone can find them, you just have to dig. Quinn and I have a lot of that digitized now. Listening to everything around the music, the stuff the interviewer or engineer didn’t mean to record; that’s the weird stuff,” Méthé explains. “Quinn and I heard an argument on one tape, there was so much tension and urge in their speech. It was perfect… we had to include it in ‘Fiction Feel.’ Connect the Dots (the full record) has a bunch of awkward little archive-chestnuts sprinkled in.”

“Natan B. Foisy also directed this visualizer. He and Béatrix (and most of the video team) are from a region north of Montreal called Lanaudière,” Bachand says of the video. “Last winter, we were able to utilize a local high school in the region for some video.”

“The song is a little nerdy and bipolar and Natan did a great job of capturing that in the visualizer. He got teenagers from the school to play with the camera, cycling through different emotions and expressions as the song develops. And it’s all in black & white to contrast those dynamics,” Méthé says of the video.