Album Credits
Compositions: Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly
Lyrics: Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti except “Bless Thee Mundane” by Viktor Le Givens & “Sirinus” text excerpt from Diablos tentadores y Pinkillus embriagadores …en la fiesta de Anata/Phujllay - Bolivia by Henry Stobart, edited & compiled by Arnaud Gérard
Producers: Matt Lux, Frank Rosaly, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Dave Vettraino
Executive Producer: Scott McNiece
Recording and mixing: Dave Vettraino
Additional Recording: Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti, Frank Rosaly, Chris Doyle
Mastering: David Allen
Design/Layout: Craig Hansen
Photos: GUMO (covers) & Omaira Tapia (insert)
Recorded at International Anthem Studios, Chicago, and Molk Factory, Amsterdam, with additional recording in La Paz & Cochabamba, Bolivia, and Fajardo, Puerto Rico, 2023.
1. INVOCAÇÃO
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti – voice; Frank Rosaly - mbira, drums, synthesizers, Octatrack; Chris Doyle - piano
-
Voy a buscar
las semillas que
las cargan a ellas
las voces de las abuelasVoy a caminar
seguir de cerca las estrellas
que me guían
para escucharlasSolo voy a bailar
después de la invocación
y si ellas vienen
les preguntaréCómo fué su caminar
en la tierra, cuáles fueron
sus sueños y sus
miedos mujerSolo quiero ver
sus ojos, y que me
transporten a su
tiempo vivirBarrer el polvo, lamer el polvo, limpiar el polvo
Barrer el polvo, lamer el polvo, limpiar el polvo
Barriendo los secretos
Limpiando trapos sucios con lágrimas. Silencio
El polvo
Que entra y ciega, ellas bailan, ellas pelean, ellas juegan
Que entra y ciega, ellas bailan, ellas pelean, ellas juegan
Que charla
Te veo, me veo, te beso
Te veo, me veo, te beso
Abriendo las puertas de tiempos olvidados, borrados por vergüenza, por ceguera
Déjame ver tus sueños
¡Déjeme ver! tus miedosAbriendo las puertas de tiempos olvidados, borrados por vergüenza, por ceguera
Déjame ver tus sueños
¡Déjeme ver! tus miedos
Lloro
Deja el tiempo
Yo lo estoy dejando
me voy
construyendo
cargando
dejando
olvidando
plantando
regando
hueco
Entrando
sin fin -
I will search
for the seeds that
carry them
the voices of the grandmothersI am going to walk
follow closely
The stars that guide me
to be able to listen to themI am just going to dance
after the invocation
and if they come
I am going to askHow was their walk
on the land, which were
their dreams and their
fears, women fears.I just want to see
their eyes and let them
transport me to their
life timeSweeping dust, licking dust, dusting dust
Sweeping dust, licking dust, dusting dust
Sweeping away the secrets
Cleaning dirty cloths with tears. Silence.
The dust
Which enters and blinds, they dance, fight, playWhich enters and blinds, they dance, fight, play
What a talk!
I see you, I see myself, I kiss you
I see you, I see myself, I kiss you
Opening the doors of forgotten times, erased by shame, by blindness
Let me see your dreams
Let me see! your fearsOpening the doors of forgotten times, erased by shame, by blindness
Let me see your dreams
Let me see! your fears
I cry
Stop the time
I am leaving
building
carrying
leaving
forgetting
planting
watering
hole
entering
endlessly -
Eu vou procurar
as sementes que
carregam elas
as vocês das vósEu vou caminhar
seguir de perto as estrelas
que me guiam
pra escutar elasEu só vou dançar
trás a invocação
e se elas virem
eu vou perguntarComo foi seu caminhar
na terra, quais foram
seus sonhos e seus
medos mulherEu só quero ver
seus olhos e que me
transportem ao seu
tempo de viverVarrendo o pó, lambendo o pó, limpando o pó
Varrendo o pó, lambendo o pó, limpando o pó
Varrendo os segredos
Limpando panos sujos com lágrimas. Silêncio.
O pó
Que entra cega, elas dançam, brigam, brincam
Que entra cega, elas dançam, brigam, brincam
Que papo
Te vejo, me vejo, te beijo
Te vejo, me vejo, te beijo
Abrindo as portas de tempos esquecidos, borrados por vergonha, por cegueira
Me deixa ver seus sonhos
Me deixa ver! seus medosAbrindo as portas de tempos esquecidos, borrados por vergonha, por cegueira
Me deixa ver seus sonhos
Me deixa ver! seus medos
Choro
Deixa o tempo
Eu to deixando
construindo
levando
deixando
esquecendo
plantando
regando
buraco
Entrar
sem fim
2. DESTEJER
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, Farfisa, Prophet; Frank Rosaly - drums, percussion, synthesizers; Chris Doyle - Hammond, Philicorda, MS-20; Ben LaMar Gay – cornet; Rob Frye – flute; Matt Lux - electric bass; Mikel Patrick Avery - tamborine, caxixi
-
Remendando mis palabras, abrazo
el saber de mi cuerpo, destejer
la homogeneidad, acudo
a las diferencias, el presente.El presente conjura el pasado
que informa el futuro
Esquivo la trampa, no soy
materia prima, raízes.Remendando mis palabras abrazo
Destejiendo la homogeneidad acudo
El presente conjura el pasado que informa el futuro
Yo esquivo la trampa no soy materia primaRaíces tentaculares me llevan a mis ancestros
Tectónicos Tectónicos
Raíces tentaculares me llevan a mis ancestros
Tectónicos Tectónicos TectónicosRemendando mis palabras, abrazo
el saber de mi cuerpo, destejer
la homogeneidad, acudo
a las diferencias, el presente.Esquivo la trampa, no soy
Materia prima
Raizes -
Mending my words, I embrace
the knowledge of my body, to unweave
the homogeneity, I turn up
to the differences, the present.The present conjures the past
that informs the future
I dodge the trap
I am not raw material, roots.Mending my words, I witness
Unweaving the homogeneity, I attend
The present conjures the past that informs the future
I dodge the trap, I am not raw materialTentacular roots, they take me to my ancestors
Tectonic ancestors Tectonic ancestors Tentacular roots, they take me to my ancestors
Tectonic Tectonic Tectonic ancestorsMending my words, I embrace
the knowledge of my body, unweaving
the homogeneity, I turn up
to the differences, the present.I dodge the trap, I am not
raw material
Roots -
Remendando minhas palavras, abraço
o conhecimento do meu corpo, desfazendo
a homogeneidade, eu vou
às diferenças, o presente.O presente evoca o passado
que informa o futuro
Eu evito a armadilha, não sou
matéria-prima, raízes.Remendando minhas palavras abraço
Desfazendo a homogeneidade eu acudo
O presente evoca o passado que informa o futuro
Eu esquivo a armadilha, não sou matéria-primaRaízes tentaculares me levam aos meus ancestrais
Tectônicos Tectônicos
Raízes tentaculares me levam aos meus ancestrais
Tectônicos Tectônicos TectônicosRemendando minhas palavras, abraço
o conhecimento do meu corpo, desfazendo
a homogeneidade, eu vou
Às diferenças, o presente.Eu evito a armadilha, não sou
Matéria prima
Raizes
3) BALADA PARA LA CORPORATOCRACIA
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, Buchla, effects, percussion; Frank Rosaly - drums, percussion; Matt Lux - electric bass, effect pedals; Daniel Villarreal - congas, percussion
-
Ellos mienten y se ríen
de todo lo acumulado
se pasan el día a día
excavando y excavandoTodo lo que han quemado
y lo que han enterrado
para que ya nadie vea
todo lo que han destrozadoSacan
No nos olvidamos
No nos olvidamos
No nos olvidamos
Nunca olvidamosSacan
Ellos borran las memorias
al sacar los viejos huesos
arrebatan las historias
y se llevan lo que sobraDespués ya no sobra nada
ni migajas de aire puro
nos re-venden lo excavado
y nos llaman los domadosSacan
-
They lie and laugh
of everything accumulated
they spend day after day
digging and diggingEverything that they have burned
and what they have buried
so that no one sees it
everything they have destroyedThey take out
No, we do not forget
No, we do not forget
No, we do not forget
We never forgetThey take out
They take out
They erase the memories
when removing the old bones
they snatch the stories
and they take away what is leftAfterwards there is nothing left over
not even crumbs of fresh air
They resell us what they have excavated
and they call us the tamed onesThey take out
-
Eles mentem e riem
de tudo o acumulado
eles passam seus dias
escavando e escavandoTudo o que eles queimaram
e o que eles enterraram
para que ninguém veja
tudo o que eles destruíramEles tiram
Nós não esquecemos
Nós não esquecemos
Nós não esquecemos
nós nunca esquecemosEles tiram
Eles apagam as memórias
ao remover os ossos velhos
eles arrebatam as histórias
e eles pegam o que sobraDepois não sobra nada
nem migalhas de ar fresco
Eles nos revendem o que escavaram
e eles nos chamam os domesticadosEles tiram
4. TURBULÊNCIA
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, effects, acoustic guitar, guiro; Frank Rosaly - drums, congas, percussion, synthesizers; Chris Doyle - Hammond, Philicorda; Bill MacKay - electric guitar; Matt Lux - electric bass; Mikel Patrick Avery - penny whistles
-
¡Nuestro camino fuera del desorden!
Lo que se está rompiendo
Lo ciclico
El poder de la tierraLa turbulencia
La disonancia
El poder localizadoLas voces silenciadas
El desorden
La miseriaEl canibalismo
la cegueraLos desarraigados
Las conformidades¿Con qué oídos elegimos escuchar?
¿Con qué manos elegimos esculpir?
¡Nuestra salida de este desorden!Nuestra forma de saber
-
Our way out of the mess!
What is breaking
the cyclical
the power of the earthThe turbulence
the dissonance
the localized powerThe silenced voices
The mess
the miseryThe cannibalism
the blindnessThe uprooted ones
the conformitiesWith which ears do we choose to listen?
With which hands do we choose to carve?
our way out of the messOur way of knowing
-
Nosso caminho fora da bagunça!
O que se está quebrando
O ciclico
O poder da terraA turbulência
A dissonância
O poder localizadoAs vozes silenciadas
A bagunça
A miseriaO canibalismo
A cegueiraOs desenraizados
As conformidadesCom que ouvido a gente escolhe ouvir?
Com que mãos escolhemos esculpir?
nosso caminho fora da bagunça!Nossa maneira de saber
5. MESTIZX
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, guitar, Wurlitzer, Prophet; Frank Rosaly - Elektron Analog 4, synthesisers, pandeiro; Chris Doyle – piano; Bill MacKay - guitar, electric guitar; Mikel Patrick Avery - chacapa, cowbell, woodblock, shakers
-
Soy la herida y la medicina
Soy el problema y soy la respuesta
Soy el veneno y el antídotoSoy la bestia y soy hermosura
Soy liberación y mutilación
Soy oscuridad y soy humildadSoy conquistada soy conquistadora
Soy conquistada soy conquistadoraSoy la opresión y soy el gemido
Soy la que grita y soy la que escuchaSoy composto cósmico
Soy arena de estrellasSoy guerra soy maestra
Soy puño soy perdón
Soy guerra soy maestra
Soy puño soy perdón -
I am the wound and the medicine
I am the problem and I am the answer
I am the poison and I am the antidoteI am the beast and I am beauty
I am liberation and I am mutilation
I am darkness and I am humilityI am the conquered I am the conqueror
I am the conquered I am the conquerorI am the oppression and I am the moan
I am the one who screams and I am the one who listens
I am cosmic compost
I am stardustI am the war I am the teacher
I am the fist I am the forgiveness
I am the war I am the teacher
I am the fist I am the forgiveness -
Eu sou a ferida e o remédio
Eu sou o problema e sou a resposta
Eu sou o veneno e o antídotoEu sou a fera e sou a bela
Eu sou libertação e mutilação
Eu sou escuridão e sou humildadeEs sou a conquistada e eu sou a conquistadora
Es sou a conquistada e eu sou a conquistadoraEu sou a opressão e sou o gemido
Sou eu quem grita e sou eu quem ouve
Eu sou composto cósmico
Eu sou areia de estrelasEu sou a guerra, sou uma maestra
Eu sou um punho, eu sou o perdão
Eu sou a guerra, sou uma maestra
Eu sou um punho, eu sou o perdão
6. BARRO
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, pandereta; Frank Rosaly - drums, synthesizers, drum machine programming, percussion, pandereta; Chris Doyle - piano, synthesizers
-
Todo lo que encarna
Tiene su propia sombraLibre sin carga
Rechazando captura y rupturaUna invitación a encontrarse
En el tejido presente
Convirtiéndose en lluvia en barro y silencioRenazco a través de cien nudos que
duermen entre abismos y grietas
busco lo visionario que me une
A las voces de mis ancestros
comuno con lo invisible
que da la vida
despierto con el asombro
de lo que se ha destejido en mi verTodo cuerpo tiene su sombra
libre sin carga en la vida está -
All that has been embodied
has its own shadowFree with no burden
refusing capture and ruptureAn invitation to find ourselves
in the fabric of the present
Becoming rain, mud and silenceI reborn through a hundred knots that
are asleep between abysses and cracks
I search for the visionary that binds
the voices of my ancestors
I commune with the invisible
that gives life
I wake up in wonder
Of what has been unwoven in my sightEvery body has its shadow
Free of burden, within the living exists -
Tudo o que se incorpora
tem sua própria sombraLivre, sem carga
Recusando captura e rupturaUm convite para conhecer
o tecido do presente
Transformando-se em chuva em lama e silêncioRenasço através de cem nós que
dormem entre abismos e rachaduras
Procuro o visionário que une
para as vozes dos meus antepassados
Comungo com o invisível
que dá vida
Eu acordo com o assombro
do que se desvendou na minha visãoTodo corpo tem sua sombra
livre sem carga, na vida está
7. SABER DO MAR
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti – voice; Frank Rosaly - drums, mbira, synthesizers, percussion; Chris Doyle – synthesizers; Bill MacKay – requinto; Mikel Patrick Avery – percussion
-
Las heridas vienen por los mares.
nos ven
abren cada rincón
nos ven
de pie, abren
tu cielo y el mioLos mares cuentan las historias
del cielo
abre los portales del mundo
y ven
tu saber
y abre el mío -
Wounds come with the seas
they see us
they open every corner
they see us
they stand up and open
your sky and mineThe seas, they tell stories
from the sky
they open the portals of the world
they see
your knowledge
and open mine -
As feridas vem por mares
nos vem
elas abrem todos os cantos
nos vem
de pé, abrem
teu céu e o meuMares contam as histórias
do céu
abrem os portais do mundo
e vem
o teu saber
abrem o meu
8. BLESS THEE MUNDANE
Frank Rosaly - drums, drum machine programming, synthesizers, guiro; Viktor Le Givens - voice message
9. DESCEND
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, effects, guiro, percussion; Frank Rosaly - drums, guiro; Matt Lux - electric bass; Chris Doyle - synthesizers
-
Buscando lugares de poder
Yo desciendo a la tierraEl futuro se abrirá
una oportunidad para cambiar de formaNo estamos en el centro
una mirada a la otredad
una multiplicidad de deveniresCon qué parlamento de voces
¿Tenemos que sentarnos?
para poder practicar
nuestro morir -
Seeking places of power
I descend to the soilThe future will come forth
an opportunity to shape-shiftWe are not in the center
a glimpse of the otherwise
a multiplicity of becomingsWhat parliament of voices
Do we need to sit with…?
In order to practice
our dying -
Procurando por lugares de poder
eu descendo na terraO futuro se abrirá
uma chance de mudar de formaNão estamos no centro
um olhar para a alteridade
uma multiplicidade de deviresCom que parlamento de vozes
Temos que nos sentar?
para poder praticar
nosso morrer
10. WRITING WITH KNOTS
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, Farfisa, lap harp, Prophet, bells; Frank Rosaly - drums, percussion, Elektron Analog 4, synthesizers; Chris Doyle - Pulse synth, MS-20; Matt Lux - bass six, electric bass; Ben LaMar Gay – cornet; Rob Frye – flute; Avreeayl Ra – drums
-
Romper
permitir
sentirse electrificado
respirar
no saber
futurear
enraizar
cambiar
para entrar en lugares subterráneos que se sientan como un hogarMundeando encantamientos
escribiendo con nudos
yo conjuro
el cruce de caminos
oráculos
de pasados migrantes, fugitivos, diaspóricos, móvilesPermitir
romper
enraizar
cambiarMundeando encantamientos
escribiendo con nudos
Nosotros conjuramos
el cruce de caminos
oráculos
de pasados migrantes, fugitivos, diaspóricos, móviles -
To break
To allow
To feel electrified
To breathe
To not know
To future
To root
To change
To enter subterranean places that feel like homeWorlding incantations
writing with knots
I conjure
the crossroads
oracles
of migrant, fugitive, diasporic,
mobile pastsTo allow
To break
To root
To changeWorlding incantations
writing with knots
We conjure
the crossroads
oracles
of migrant, fugitive, diasporic,
mobile pasts -
Quebrar
permitir
sentir-se eletrificado
respirar
não saber
futuro
raiz
mudar
para entrar em lugares subterrâneos que se sintam como um larMundeando encantamentos
escrevendo com nós
eu conjuro
A encruzilhada
oráculos
de passados migrantes, fugitivos, diaspóricos e móveisPermitir
quebrar
raiz
mudarMundeando encantamentos
escrevendo com nós
nós invocamos
A encruzilhada
oráculos
de passados migrantes, fugitivos, diaspóricos e móveis
11. SIRINUS
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, effects; Frank Rosaly - drums, percussion, krar, synthesizers, electronics; Guilherme Granado - synth bass, electronics; Mikel Patrick Avery – percussion; Fredy Velásquez- harmonica, Awa vocalizations, chacapa, percussion
-
Los instrumentos fueron llevados a los Sirinus
a una cascada o manantial
tarde en la noche
y fueron hechas las ofrendasSe afirma que
estos seres peligrosos y misteriosos
son la fuente de todo sonidoLa práctica nocturna
de la usurpación del poder del Sirinu
tiene el objetivo de lograr que
los instrumentos suenen
exquisitamente bellosTemas comunes incluyen:
Seducción
La habilidad de encantar con su músicaConocimiento
La fuente de toda inspiraciónPeligro
La habilidad de causar enfermedad, muerte o locura
al menos que el acercamiento con el Sirinu sea con el adecuado cuidado,
respeto, valor y fortalezaIntercambio contrato
La adquisición de los poderes Sirinus es contractual
Requiere de una cierta forma de ofrecimiento
De sacrificio o intercambioPoderes demoníacos
La asociación con Diablos, oscuridad, noche y la tierra interna
El mundo natural, paisaje
La asociación con lugares naturales en lugar del mundo humanoSentido alterado
Encuentros con Sirinus, especialmente la adquisición de nuevas melodías
con frecuencia implica que el oyente ingrese en un sueño
O en un estado de estar dormido
O de estar intoxicado -
The instruments were carried to the Sirinus
to a waterfall or spring
late at night
and the offerings were madeIt is claimed that
these dangerous and mysterious beings
are the source of all soundThe night practice
of the Sirinu's usurpation of power
has the objective of achieving
that the instruments can sound
exquisitely beautifulCommon themes include:
Seduction
The ability to enchant with its musicKnowledge
The source of all inspirationDanger
The ability to cause disease, death, or insanity
Unless the approach with the Sirinus is with the proper care,
respect, courage and strengthExchange contract
The acquisition of the power of the Sirinus is contractual
It requires a certain form of offering
Of sacrifice or exchangeDemonic powers
Association with Devils, darkness, night and the inner earth
the natural world, landscape
Association with natural places rather than the human worldAltered senses
Encounters with Sirinus, especially the acquisition of new melodies
often involves the listener entering a dream
Or in a state of being asleep
Or of being intoxicated -
Os instrumentos foram levados para o Sirinus
para uma cachoeira ou nascente
tarde da noite
e as ofertas foram feitasÉ afirmado que
esses seres perigosos e misteriosos
eles são a fonte de todo somA prática noturna
da usurpação do poder do Sirinu
tem o objetivo de alcançar
que os instrumentos soem
primorosamente belosOs temas comuns incluem:
Sedução
A capacidade de encantar com sua músicaConhecimento
A fonte de toda inspiraçãoPerigo
A capacidade de causar doença, morte ou loucura
a menos que a abordagem com o Sirinus seja com o cuidado adequado,
respeito, coragem e fortaleçaTroca ou contrato
A aquisição do poder dos Sirinus é contratual
Requer uma certa forma de oferta
De sacrifício ou trocaPoderes demoníacos
Associação com demônios, escuridão, noite e terra interior
O mundo natural, paisagem
A associação com lugares naturais em vez do mundo humanoSentidos alterados
Encontros com Sirinus, principalmente a aquisição de novas melodias
com frequência envolve que o ouvinte entre em um estado de sonho
Ou em um estado de estar dormido
Ou de estar embriagado
Liner Notes by Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly
We have been entangled with the multiform languages of our ancestors for as long as we can remember, consciously and unconsciously. We have both been touched by a fascination of sound and the act of listening to our surroundings, community and fabric of our realities, weaving deep sorrow, celebration, trance, grief and resistance in song… and in us.
“Being born and raised in the very outspoken territories of Bolivia and Brazil, I was in constant confrontation of these languages. I remember endless family gatherings, sharing time together making music. In Bolivia, we often shared nostalgic songs that touched the lives of my dad – howling, banging on his guitar – mom and extended family. In Brazil as well: my grandfather Pedro Ferragutti, a fanfare composer and saxophonist, would sit us down and have us listen to numerous dance and song forms. I recall the tornado of emotions listening to this music, which were like letters from the souls of my lineage from both the Bolivian and Brazilian diasporas. Through those songs, they were teaching me who they were, and who we were. That’s how I fell deeply in love with protest, Latin, Andean, and Brazilian music, and more generally, the sounds of the Southern hemisphere. Coming from deeply rooted musical families in both lands, listening and singing together to Violeta Parra, Victor Jara, Chico Buarque, Gal Costa, Inti Illimani and others was, in many ways, my education. It would define my life path of choosing to pursue art for a living. I didn’t quite grasp the impact of these spacious and timeless listening moments I shared with my family until much later.” - Ibelisse
“Being a first generation Puerto Rican-American, my parents tried their best to integrate me while also attempting to keep me in touch with our roots. I had a kind of secondary contact with this ancestral language, but was finding my ancestry in the magical surroundings of the desert through my imagination. I saw a rare Tito Puente performance in Arizona when I was very young. That moment was thunder, heating my chest and limbs. I knew that this storm passing through my small body was absolutely the feeling, the opening and the sound. I wanted to pursue music for the rest of my life. The sheer power of that moment became the red thread, propelling me through my practice of listening, playing percussion and composing. I have started connecting the dots on how my alignment with jazz and improvised music – particularly during my 15 years performing in Chicago – has been an extremely important bridge throughout the years to a broader view in relation to my roots. Growing up in Arizona, discouraged to learn Spanish or identify as Puerto Rican, kept me at a distance from those territories. Yet my own ‘discovery’ of bomba, plena, jibaro into son, salsa, music of Yoruba and other Afro-Cubano lineages, and since 2008, pre-colonial Indigenous Taino studies, has precipitated in teaching me the silent songs of those who have inhabited these ancestral territories.” - Frank
We are both now based in Amsterdam. It’s a place that has embraced our experimental practices in music, performance and a diversity of projects. We also fell in love with each other here on September 18th 2014, during a concert Frank was playing at the renowned Jazz venue, Bimhuis. We interpret the oracular spark of this magnanimous love as an act of surrender and total belief. Frank was living in Chicago at the time, and Ibelisse was already based in Amsterdam - and yet there was no way around it, we delved into the storm of migrating continents to sing life together. The love spark between us multiplied our already deep amour for the music that exists in the fabric of our Latin roots.
We are aligned by what we’ve studied within the art practices of jazz, rock, punk, performance art, theater and dance, and share a hunger to relate our own artistic practices and study of our ancestries to the Western styles and ideals that surround us. This calibration made our collaboration both natural and magnetic.
We then began traveling together to our root territories. In addition to spending countless nights singing and sharing with our families, we noticed other songs – the songs of the land itself. While sitting between the intertwined roots of the Figueira Gigante tree in Ilha Grande, we became acquainted with jungle birds like gavião-carcarás, sanhaços, socós, atobás, tesourão, joão-de-barros, tangará and the beija-flor. While walking for days between cachoeiras and small canyons in Chapada Diamantina we met the birds of this cosmic landscape such as gravatinha, rabo-mole-da-serra, tangará-príncipe and aracuã-de-barriga-branca.
Throughout astonishing pitch-black nights we heard the concerts of the miniature frog Coquí singing together with the most mesmerizing and enchanting insect cacophony and choir of escarabajos, mantis y gorgojos in Playa la Selva, Puerto Rico. We spent long sunny afternoons in Ibelisse's grandparents' gardens and met local birds el picaflor, el hornero, el halcón in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We danced in Puerto Rico among winding vines in El Yunque, listening to the rain fall on the countless leaves and surfaces whose music created a perfect trance.
This record is a document we made as a love letter to our ancestors, both from the past, present and future, while recognizing through ritual and ceremony the inherent colonial presence. Mestizx is a common title used in the territories of the diasporas we belong to, to differentiate people that are from a mixed race descent. It is used in a slightly different way in every place, but generally highlights a separation of lineages from which we descend. This divisive worldview has paved a paradoxical state of being for us regarding what songs we are allowed to associate with.
“I adore, admire and celebrate Andean music, but am ever aware that it is tricky business to try to participate in ritual, music and dance amongst the communities of that territory, despite being born in Bolivia. I am mestiza, so no matter how much love I have for the cosmological, ecological and mind-blowing practices, the nature of the other (colonial) half of my lineage carries separation.” - Ibelisse
“To natives of Puerto Rico, I will always be experienced as an outsider, so making the attempt for an intimately shared experience from my Puerto Rican heritage will always be one stemming from some degree of alienation. But as a mestizo, it doesn’t hinder me from reaching towards the deep roots I feel within, so I choose to liberate the music within.” - Frank
We felt a shared kinship and grief in this estrangement, worthy of addressing. We experience our ancestral homes as intrinsically distant, and share an urgency to connect deeper with our ancestral lineage. Through our talks, travels and this shared longing, both a nostalgia and a healing process were ignited within us. This commenced a deep journey to grasp the historical reasons on why these separations are so loud. This process continues to be a painful one, so we began to absorb practices, readings and a multiplicity of teachings to align in love and listening to our histories. While knowing we are opening a past, present and future can of worms - we became aware this was an indispensable step to be made.
Corrupted histories, written by the same hands that created the separation in the first place, became our focus. We ventured into painful cracks. We spent time with historians, activists and healers who write from a place of resistance and stand in the dangerous trenches of truth. We armored up to listen within our own mestizx bodies, hearing what these cracks had to tell us. We listened… and listened. What we heard is this: for the last 500 years, most of the voices of our ancestors, their belief systems, cosmologies, ecologies, resources, territories and bodies have been made invisible. Silenced. Forcibly migrated & enslaved. Oppressed. Erased. Built over. Destroyed.
However, our ancestors are still whispering through those alleged erasures. There is an echo no one will ever be able to silence, a thread to grasp. That helped us realize that it is not us that don’t belong, rather, it’s the vast colonial project of multifaceted oppression that has made us believe such a lie. We were not imagining the alienation that was being imposed upon us based on the attempted uprootedness which we felt. So we sang, we played and above all we created silence to listen to those humming voices that are giving us the permission to sing and play, speculating upon sonic imaginaries and entering trance-like states in order to harvest what they tell us.
We are un-weaving conditionings, disassembling and reweaving the artifacts that remain into the songs that are now manifested in this record. We recognize that these are more than songs to us, they are threads that echo timelines that have been made nearly invisible. We know that there is resonance in the darkness of those cracks. There is resistance. There is Love. There are still innumerable unfolded crevices and fissures filled with untold stories. We also learned that we don’t have to dig up all of the past, we simply have to make ourselves available to our ancestors so that they can sing through us.
We would like to acknowledge the mountains, the jungles, the plants, the animals and the people that have guided us to practice courage while listening, may they be amongst the living or in the almas realm: Cordillera de los Andes, the Amazon, Pajchiri, Lago Corani, El Yunque, The Mogollon Rim, Balneario Seven Seas, Ilha Grande, Chapada Diamantina, the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea and all ecosystems that inhabit these territories. We acknowledge sound practitioners Violeta Parra, Tito Puente, Victor Jara, Billy Higgins, Canario, Kantus de Charazani, the Afro-Bolivian community, Andean Ayllus, Elvira Espejo, the Taíno Indigenous community, Phujllay from Tarabuco, the Sirinus. We acknowledge the writers, activists, historians, theorists, ethnomusicologists and healers Guaman Poma Ayala, Arnaud Gérard, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, Bayo Akomolafe, Qhana Wara and Yawar Mallku.
We would like to pay our gratitude and utmost admiration to International Anthem Recording Company, Scottie McNiece, Dave Vettraino, David Allen, Alejandro Ayala for the gift of making this document. Thank you to our community of friends, family, contemporaries and music makers for supporting us, believing in us and giving us your sonic, imagery and pluri-formal gifts:Chris Doyle, Ben LaMar Gay, Rob Frye, Mikel Patrick Avery, Bill MacKay, Daniel Villarreal, Avreeayl Ra, Guilherme Granado, Fredy Velásquez, Viktor Le Givens.
Grandparents, Ancestors, this music is for you. We love you.