FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Eight Latin funk originals and one cover now streaming everywhere – CD features a bonus track
Miami, FL – September 20, 2024 – Award-winning Miami-based Latin funk “fusionistas” Electric Piquete have finally delivered on a promise made some time ago. The band’s new recording Azabache, a full-length collection of new and mostly instrumental music, is now streaming on all platforms and available on CD through Bandcamp.
The first single off Azabache is titled “Chunk“, a mid-tempo funk number mixed by Grammy-winning producer and engineer Carlos “El Loco” Bedoya (Beyoncé, Mick Jagger, Enrique Iglesias). The accompanying video is directed and edited by Christopher Tijerino from CR38TE MEDIA, and serves as a re-introduction to the group, capturing them in both rehearsal and performance settings. The video can be viewed on the band’s YouTube page.
“The new album is meant to be a musical azabache, a salve for what ills our world, a statement of joy and groove put forth in the universal language of music,” says Michael Mut, band co-founder, bassist, and album executive producer. “We hope to provide listeners with a temporary escape from the mortal realm, and an invitation to the spiritual.”
The word Azabache means black amber or jet and finds its origins in the Andalusian region of Spain. Its value and use as jewelry trace back to ancient Rome, and its modern use to Cuban culture, where it is meant to ward off negative energies. Azabaches are also said to protect wearers from fear, indecisiveness, and evil.
Album standouts include the up-tempo Latin groove of “Guayabera” (also mixed by Bedoya), “Muevete Con Ganas“, a collaboration featuring the vocal and lyrical contributions of Miami-based singer / songwriter MannySwagg. The track has been around as a fully realized instrumental song since 2009, and the group decided to join forces with the frontman after a particularly energetic stage performance in Miami Beach in the summer of 2023.
“Timeless Faith” puts congero Raymond Ayala and his smooth Puerto Rican / Spanish rap flow front and center. “S.A.C.A.” is another musical idea that has been around for some time, and this effort finally gave the band a chance to commit it to tape.
“Viva Tirado“, the Gerald Wilson / Fania Allstars standard, has long been a part of the band’s live repertoire and helped initially seed the group. It appeared on a mixtape Rosado created for Mut in the early 1990s.
The CD version of the release contains a bonus track, a cover of the Badfinger song “Matted Spam“, which was first issued in 2023 on the Y&T Music compilation Shine On: a Tribute to Pete Ham.
Independently released, the record was engineered and co-mixed by long-time collaborator Ferny Coipel. Mut along with band co-founder Ed Rosado and guitarist Chris Correoso co-produced the album.
Formed in the summer of 2007, Electric Piquete is a two-time Miami New Times “Best Latin Band” award-winning Latin funk outfit. Their influences are as diverse as the Miami region that birthed them, ranging from rock to jazz spiced with everything in between: funk, Afro-Caribbean, progressive, and R&B.
High-resolution photos of the band and the album cover are available here.
For more information, visit ElectricPiquete.com.
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