More footage of our latest recording:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Today at Rutgers University, NJ
Today we're going to Rutgers University in New Jersey to play for a talk show which will be broadcasted soon (I'm still not sure where but I'll put up the info when I have it). We'll be playing one song and they'll be interviewing us. The whole band wouldn't fit in the studio(!) so it's only the rhythm section for today: Ignacio "Nacho" Hernandez on guitar, Andres Rotmistrovsky on bass, Victor Cruz on "alegre" drum, Marcelo Woloski playing "tambora" drum and Karina Colis on Drum Set. I'll be singing and playing accordion.
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Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Gregorio Uribe Big Band @ MSR Studios # 2
Here is another video of the recording of "Caribe Contigo" which will be released soon.
Playing with Folklore Urbano
On my way to play drums with "Floklore Urbano". I'm exited, I miss playing drums! Check them out: www.flokloreurbano.com
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Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Sofia Rei Koutsovitis - Tonight @ Joe's Pub
Going out tonight to see Sofia Rei Koutsovitis perform at Joe's Pub...she's amazing! Here is the info:
UPCOMING SHOWS
Price: $15 in advance; $20 at the door
- 7:00 PM - June 19
SHOW DESCRIPTION
"As the Argentine singer Sofia Rei Koutsovitis led her multinational band,(…) the passion and clarity with which she assayed a tricky mix of South American rhythms and jazz-inflected harmonies made clear why she has been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie Hall to the hippest downtown haunts." - Phil Lutz, New York Times
"One of the most versatile and in-demand singers on the New York music scene." - Simon Calle, All About Jazz
Best Latin Jazz Vocalist of 2009 Award - The Latin Jazz Corner
Sofia Rei Koutsovitis is one of New York’s most passionate, charismatic and inventive vocalists, who brings depth and fullness of a riveting voice to her second album, Sube Azul, as well as to her live performance. Following up on Ojalá, her polyglot and multilingual debut, she offers this time a collection of mostly original Spanish-language songs that build on a new set of growth experiences since moving to New York in 2005.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the album is grounded in traditional South American rhythms such as chacarera, zamba and vidala from Argentina, Afro-peruvian festejo and lando, Afro-Uruguayan candombe, Colombian cumbia and bullerengue and other genres that merge involving jazz harmonies, electronic sounds and rich improvisations. Singing in Spanish, Portuguese or English, Sofia's voice is graceful as well as sophisticated, tying together diverse influences in a program full of rhythmic complexity, melody and romance.Sofia is a restless artist, one of the most versatile and in-demand singers on the New York music scene.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
TONIGHT (Friday): Gregorio Uribe Big Band @ Encounter of Colombian Musicians NYC
Hey folks, here is the info for tonight's (FRIDAY) show. Come see us and many other great bands!
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Finished mixing "Caribe Contigo"
Just finished mixing "Caribe Contigo" with engineer Lawrence Manchester and producer Juan Pablo Mantilla. Its sounding great! We'll be mastering it next week and editing the video...I'll keep you posted.
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Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
"Mi Superheroe"
Here is a little cute song I wrote for my father's 60th birthday a few days ago. Enjoy! (This was recorded at Ears and Gears - www.earsandgears.com)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Gregorio Uribe Big Band @ MSR Studios # 1
I'm going to start putting up some videos of the "behind the scenes" of our recording last week so you can get a feel of the atmosphere in the studio. Here is the first one!
Afro-Colombian Rhythms Workshops in NYC with Toto La Momposina's percussionist
Here is a great opportunity for percussionist, drummers and musicians in general of learning about colombian rhythms directly from a master!
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Sunday, June 6, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Silvio, Mockus and other craziness...
> I'm at Carnegie Hall sitting in front of a column (this column wasn't on the sitting description!) waiting to see Silvio Rodriguez perform live for the first time in my life. There are protesters outside and I understand why...they are right; Cuba will keep on being a difficult subject for many years. But I'm not here for the politics...(write at this point the lights went down, everybody started screaming of excitement and I had to stop writing on my blackberry because Silvio was about to come out. So I resent this small paragraph to my own email and promised myself I would continue writing it once I got home and this is what I'm doing right now, so lets continue: where was I?) So politics...yeah, I wasn't there for the politics, I was there for the music; the beautifully crafted arrangements, the mastering of song writing, the complex yet simple and honest sentiments described and so many more elements that make Silvio a master songwriter...its not about Silvio, its about his music. Its about his individual experience as a human being and how he, like most artists, try to reflect all of what he is in his music...and he succeeds. Its not about liking who he is, its about realizing the uniqueness and grandeur with which he brings all that he is made of in melodies, verses and harmonies. Its not about what he says,;its about how he says it...it's not about agreeing with what he says; its about realizing that the way he says it has an impact weather its positive or negative one. And I'm not arguing with anyone right now (although it may sound like it! hehe), but what I saw tonight brings many thoughts to mind and although I have no way of organizing these right now, they are there...in my head...al the time!
I'm not sure if he was playing in another city other than New York but it makes a lot of sense that he would perform here and it gives me another reason (like I need one more) to love this place...I mean, I'm sure he's not playing in DC! (who know's I should do some research...but I really don't think he is). It makes sense that he would perform here because of many obvious reasons but personally it makes sense because there shouldn't be a conflict between me loving his music and loving day to day life in New York City. It is this kind of mentality that we should strive for: objectiveness! Passion is great and beautiful and is simply part of us but it shouldn't blind us. There is wisdom in not having to care that much, in not having to choose, in not having to compromise...the world is what it is and I don't plan on falling in to the trap of always having to choose; everything has it good things and bad things or can you prove otherwise?. Do we really think it will ever be simple having billions of human beings in the world, each one with individual thoughts and sentiments? I believe in a sort of optimistic chaos and you know why? Because I see that the people who understand that chaos, that complexity, that inevitability of the world are the ones that will hurt the world the least. When you think like that there is no idea important enough that will lead you to, for example, kill someone. Because people like this understand that most things cannot be controlled and aren't as important (and I mean this in a positive, enthusiastic and optimistic way believe it or not)......at this point I have no idea where I'm going with this, so I'll just leave there...for now at least. The other thing that has been revolving in my mind is the whole thing about the current presidential elections in Colombia. There is a great opportunity to start (finally!) to create a country of civilized, educated and OBJECTIVE people...but the sad part is how many colombians are scared of voting for that change because "we are not ready for it", "we have to solve other problems first", "Mockus is crazy" and so on...but then, will we ever be ready? I mean, aren't all the problems that we have now part of being "raised" as a country with a wrong mentality? Its a cycle: we keep postponing building a strong base because we always have to take care of some problems on the higher floors of the building...well, at some point there has to be a generation which is willing to bite the bullet and start taking care of the long term problem: the mentality! I'm no expert (pretty much in anything, for that matter) but I do believe that our problems begin with mentality and should be solved by changing that mentality. Talking about mentality, let me go back to Silvio's concert at Carnegie Hall today. It was a very exiting moment today. Ironically (and don't make me explain why I think this is ironic) I love to go to these concerts by myself and keep completely focused (no singing, no dancing...almost no clapping...almost as if I'm trying as hard as I can to for a private channel between me and the artist so I can see them and only them). Of course the people where going crazy and the crowd was very enthusiastic. They loved him and every few seconds someone would actually scream out "Silvio TE AMO!" "Viva Cuba Silvio" etc...but to me it's puzzling how you can love him (or his music) so much and not SHUT UP so you can actually here his songs! GOD!!! What the fuck is the point of loving that particular song if you don't let him play it because your yelling out whatever you're thinking! Its not a rock concert! Would you do that if he were playing in your leaving room? What about the freaking cellphone pictures?!! That's the most stupid of all, let me see if I can understand it: so you've been looking at this guy only in pictures throughout your whole life (and maybe some youtube videos) and you can't wait for the moment when you actually see him live, when you really know that he is there, when you can almost touch him, when you can listen to his breath on the speakers and what's the first thing you do when this moment comes? TAKE A PICTURE! Wow...you're really taking advantage of the opportunity! Don't get me wrong, the beauty of these concerts its the excitement of thousands of people connected because of someone's music. The clapping when the guy comes out to the stage, when a song ends, when he says something funny, the thousands of people singing a melody when he gives the cue...those are all fabulous things. But two hours of idiots screaming out what their political views are, what song they want him to play, what country they are from and so forth really gets old and did I mention that "hey the guy is trying to introduce the song!!". Oh yeah, lets not forget my favorite imbecile that screamed out "Mockus Presidente!"...and this leads me to what I was saying before (I don't know...somewhere at some point) about objectivity: as you can imagine I'm in love with Mockus but I think that the guy who screamed it out in the middle of a song is an idiot. Anyway, I'm glad you wasted your time reading this because you probably learned nothing and your confused. I wouldn't be surprised if someone would say something like "wait, so Mockus was performing with Silvio Rodriguez?" hahaha! You know what folks, don't even worry about it! Sweet dreams.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
"Toto La Momposina" will perform at the Encounter of Colombian Musicians in NYC!
Toto La Momposina, Colombia's most famous traditional artist, is coming to perform at the Encounter for Colombian Musicians in New York and guess what? We're playing right after her!! Talk about pressure right?!
The Encounter takes plays on both the 18th and 19th of June (we play on Friday the 18th at 9:20pm) and it includes amazing bands and musicians such as Folklore Urbano, La Cumbiamba Eneye, Lucia Pulido, Samuel Torres, Marta Gomez and did I mention "Toto La Momposina"?!!
You folks can't miss it. Its a beautiful event for all ages that Pablo and Anna Mayor (Folklore Urbano) have been organizing for many seven years already and its getting better each time! Below is all the info so pass it around.
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Everything went great...I'm just tired.
The show at Fat Cat was so much fun. Monday's recording was amazing. I didn't get any sleep the night before the recording so I'm still recuperating! I'llbe posting some videos as soon as I get my life back in track, so bare with me!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
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