Cortadito CD Release Party 11/16

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cortadito Celebrates Release of Canciones de Julio November 16 at Wynwood Yard

Traditional Cuban folk group plays free all-ages show in Wynwood to launch five-song EP of original music

Miami, FL – October 31, 2018 – Thomas Wolfe may have written the novel You Can’t Go Home, but Miami’s premiere Cuban folk group Cortadito has quite the audio evidence to the contrary. They have now released Canciones de Julio, written and recorded with the group’s co-founder Julio Cesar Rodriguez Delet, and plan a proper celebration and homecoming Friday, November 16, 2018, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at The Wynwood Yard (56 NW 29th Street, Miami, FL 33127). The show will be free and open to the public of all ages.

“I’m happy that this project has finally seen the light of day,” says group co-founder / producer Jose Elias about the material that was originally recorded in 2015. “We are looking forward to performing the new material at the Wynwood Yard and beyond.”

The group went back to their roots and teamed up with Delet for the creation of their second EP release, which features five original compositions written by Julio Cesar, including the classic “Casa de la Trova” written by his father Julio Rodriguez. The fine work of double bass player Yorgis Goiricelaya from Matanzas, Cuba is featured throughout the recording. Yorgis is the Musical Director for Albita Rodriguez’s group and also plays bass with the legendary Oscar De Leon.

Founded in 2011, Cortadito has played countless private parties and corporate events, lounges, bars, and festivals. Most recently, the group backed legendary Buena Vista Social Club member Eliades Ochoa at the Los Dells Festival in Wisconsin, the first multi-genre Latin music festival in the Midwest, and soon to be the largest such festival in North America. They also accompanied him at this year’s GroundUp Music Festival on Miami Beach in February.

Cortadito released their debut CD Abriendo Caminos in 2012, which besides covering a variety of Cuban music standards, featured one original composition by each of the artists “Delicias Caribeña” (Elias) and “Te Lo Perdiste” (Delet).

For more information about the venue, navigate to www.wynwoodyard.com or call 305-351-0366. For more on the band, please visit www.cortaditoson.com.

###

ABOUT CORTADITO

 Cortadito’s focus is on performing the traditional Cuban music of the early 20th century. From Son Montuno, Guaracha, Boleros, Nengon, and Bolero Son, this dynamic ensemble brings the listener back to a time when Trio Matamoros, or Ignacio Piniero ruled the Cuban music world. The era when popular music was Cuban Music and Son Montuno was influencing music throughout the globe. From time to time, Cortadito is backed by a variety of guest musicians, which gives the group a sound reminiscent of the Buena Vista Social Club.

Jose Elias founded the band alongside Julio Cesar Rodriguez Delet from Santiago de Cuba in November of 2011 after a 12-year stint with Conjunto Progreso that garnered him a Grammy nomination for his participation in the album Masters of Cuban Son. The duo was an instant success and were invited to perform at the Fingerlakes Grassroots festival in Trumansberg, NY. They released their first CD titled Abriendo Caminos in 2012, which featured one original composition by each of the artists “Delicias Caribeña” (Elias) and “Te Lo Perdiste” (Delet).

In 2013, Julio Cesar moved to Houston, Texas and was replaced by Humberto Upierre from Guanabacoa, Cuba. The group then expanded into a trio which included percussionist Andres Polanco Rivas from Holguin, Cuba. In 2014 , the group reunited with Julio Cesar to record what would be the songs for their next release, which included the participation of double bass player  Yorgis Goiricelaya from Matanzas, Cuba.  Yorgis is the Musical Director for Albita Rodriguez’s group and also plays bass with Oscar De Leon.

From 2015 to 2017 the group added various musicians to the roster, including the likes Eduardo Saborit on vocals and rhythm guitar from Santiago de Cuba, percussionist Santiago McCook, Wilfredo Fuentes Cespedes who recorded and toured with Eliades Ochoa, and Horacio Rodriguez, who worked with Orquesta Aragon from 2000 to 2016. Most recently, the group has added double bass player Alberto Pantaleon, who has toured with the Buena Vista Social Club and Eliades Ochoa.

For more information about the band, visit www.cortaditoson.com.

 

MEDIA CONTACT

Mut Communications

Michael Mut

786.426.2277

info@mutcomm.com    

 

Template for Jacket with bleed, safety, trimline and fold lines.

“Rising Sounds of a Sinking City” coming 6/23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nag Champayons Release Rising Sounds of a Sinking City June 23, Celebrate at Bardot June 24

 Little Haiti-based group to issue concept album drawing on styles and cultures ranging from Africa to Miami, celebrate June 24 at Bardot

Miami, FL – June 9, 2015 – Self-described “Afrogalactic / tropidelic” locals the Nag Champayons have long set the standard for improvisational and multi-ethnic musical brilliance in Miami. Now the band is set to unleash a tidal wave of new music with Rising Sounds of a Sinking City, an eight-movement, 21-minute theme weaving together sonic textures from Africa to Colombia, then Stateside via Cuba, all converging into a frenzied psychedelic finale.

The release will be available for download on June 23, and as a physical disc on CD Baby or in-store at Sweat Records, Radioactive Records, or any of the three Mystic Water Kava Bar locations (Hollywood, Ithaca, San Diego). The CD will also be available at the band’s release party at Bardot (3456 N Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33127) the very next night, June 24; doors open at 10 p.m., there is no cover and 21 and over are welcome. The night will also feature sets by DJ Ackdaddy.

“Rising Sounds takes the listener on a heady musical trip following the dusty winds blown off the western coast of Africa, spiraling into a massive tropical storm crossing the Atlantic, picking up strength in the Caribbean, and finally surging on to the already-disappearing coastline of Miami, which is the Sinking City,” says group co-founder and keyboardist Ryan Cacolici. He also designed the album cover and art based on the photography of fellow co-founder / bassist Edwin Cardona. The songs themselves, track titles and visuals are metaphors for the progressive styles and cultures explored in the music and a commentary on the environmental crises of pollution and rising sea levels.

The Nags use the classic rock staples of electric six and 12-string guitars and Hammond organ contrasted with traditional African percussion instruments like Garifuna, balofone, shekers, djembe, wache and udu, and syncretize them with humid trumpets, synthesizers, electro bass drops, and masterful human beatboxing by vocalist Komakozie (also a member of Telekenetic Walrus). The recording additionally features a Yoruban call-and-response by Tomas Diaz (Spam Allstars) and Sonyasi Feldman, Spanglish lamentations of Colombian MC Ephniko and vocals by Juliet Maisha.

The band will tour in promotion of Rising Sounds this summer, travelling from Key West all the way up to the Trumansburg, NY version of GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance taking place next month.

For more information, visit www.NagChampayons.com or call 786.218.6854.

PART I      @ 00:00   INTRO > Ominous Currents  (Crossing the Atlantic)
PART II     @ 01:40   Tropical Storm Surge I  (Africa to Caribe)
PART III    @ 05:00   Canal Town  (Ciudad de Tilapia Tóxicas)
PART IV    @ 08:30   Tropical Storm Surge II  (Caribe to Miami)
PART V     @ 12:20   The Sharks Have All Surrounded Our Island Beds
PART VI    @ 15:10   Rising Sounds  (Music Creates Ascension)
PART VII   @ 16:18   High Tide Downtown  (The Bay Comes Crashing In)
PART VIII  @ 18:10   OUTRO > Last Transmission from New Atlantis

###

ABOUT NAG CHAMPAYONS

It’s Frank Zappa and Serge Gainsbourg wrestling Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. It’s Sonic Youth’s plane crashing into Fela Kuti’s boat in the Everglades on the hottest day of summer. “Afro-Floyd,” said one listener. The group began in the early 2000s as an improvisational collective whose name came out of the burning of Nag Champa incense during early jams. They currently feature Ryan Cacolici on keyboards, EdwinCardona (bass), Jose Elias on guitar, Kenneth Metzker and Nestor Prieto (percussion) and Michael Komikaze Rodney on vocals.

The Nags won the Broward Palm Beach New Times‘ award for “Best Band Name” in 2004. Drawing from African, Caribbean, hip-hop, rock and jazz influences, they have consistently amazed crowds with their diversity, quickly rising to the top of Miami’s music and art scene. The group enjoys a monthly residence at the Hollywood, FLMystic Kava Bar, dubbing it “Psychedelic Jazz Practice.”

On the heels of their lauded single “James Brown’s A$$,” the band was invited by theBrooklyn Academy of Music to perform as part of two of their premiere productions, the Si Cuba Festival and the Dance Africa Festival. As part of the Moksha Family Visionary artist collective, the Nags have had the honor to collaborate on stage with notable live painters Alex Grey, Mark Henson and Alex Sastoque.

The Nag Champayons continue to challenge convention; first with their 2012 self-titled EP featuring the acclaimed single “183rd St. Flea Market,” which includes contributions from long-time Nag collaborators El Chino Dread Lion (Yerba Buena) and Itagui fromLocos Por Juana, and now with their new concept album Rising Sounds of a Sinking City.

For more, visit www.NagChampayons.com or call 786.218.6854.

MEDIA CONTACT
Michael Mut
Mut Communications
786.426.2277
info@mutcomm.com

 

RISING-SOUNDS_CD_front_fb