(( Photo by Erik Särna ))
Amsterdam-based duo of Bolivian/Brazilian multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti and Puerto Rican American drummer/composer Frank Rosaly release their new EP titled O, on cassette and all digital music platforms, today October 16, 2026.
The duo also share details of upcoming performance in Tampere Jazz in Finland, where they will do a debut performance of the music from O.
(( O album cover art by J. Johari Palacio ))
O follows the release of Ferragutti and Rosaly’s celebrated album Mestizx, which came via International Anthem & Nonesuch Records in May 2024. In this new body of work, we experience the evolution of the multifarious musical journey of Rosaly and Ferragutti, as the two artists finds center in loose polyrhythm, pulse, trance, and longevity, interweaving contemplation of their Latinx backgrounds and vast sonic textures with deft craftsmanship. Both authors are adept in constructing music that feels like a pilgrimage, illuminating the elusive into something tangible, while reserving space for the listener to be immersed in micro-sonic detail. On O, Ferragutti and Rosaly create vast and dark landscapes that elicit sounds without origin, layers of field recordings and processed noise in matrices of embedded rhythms, and, of course, drumming.
The music is inspired in part by landforms and flora that provided life for Ferragutti and Rosaly’s ancestors. O (Taíno, meaning “mountain”) takes a focused journey into Puerto Rican and Caribbean cultural practices. Forms like Bomba, Plena, Rumba, Batá, Vodou, Cumbia and Dub blend into new, imagined worlds, re-contextualizing traditional elements with drums and synthesizers, marrying these practices into experimentation, speculation and worlding. O’s musical meditations constitute a form of protest against hegemonic ascendancy. As a response, O’s spirit seeks to foreground what matters most: its people and their cultural heritage.
Behind all this experimentation lies a deep layer which investigates Rosaly’s Puerto Rican roots and his shared experiences on the island with Ferragutti, where “the land unfolded and revealed itself” to them, says Rosaly. He adds: “Insects, amphibians, waterfalls, deep jungles, and massive green landforms offered poignant insight to my ancestry… The territory plays an ancient game of telephone with my three-times great grandmother, through the jungle’s canopy.” Ferragutti shares: “Upon arrival in Puerto Rico my eyes teared up instantly. It was a combination of that lush humidity embracing you like a giant intangible warmth, and the sudden opening of a memory gateway of my beloved Brazil… A way of life that just unfolds by itself with a cadence of orchestrated rainforest and pulsating drums echoing at dusk.”
O is available as a limited edition white shell cassette tape with 3-panel J-card featuring artwork by J. Johari Palacio, duplicated in Los Angeles, CA.
Debut Performance of “O” at Tampere Jazz Happening in Finland
Ferragutti and Rosaly will do a premiere of “O” at Tampere Jazz Happening, with special guest Ben Boye (Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society, Ty Segall, The Weather Station).
October 28 - “O” premiere (with guest Ben Boye) @ Tampere Jazz Happening
Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly
MESTIZX
(released May 2024 via International Anthem & Nonesuch Records)
“Sonic wonders colliding in really great ways.” -NPR Music
“Infectiously kinetic.” -The Guardian
“Indigenous Latin American rhythms converse with sputtering electronics and Ferragutti’s chanted invocations converge into post-hardcore harshness...to take it in is to be a witness to a fierce ritual protest.” -Bandcamp Daily
“Unlike any other album...charts a direction and unfettered hope for the future, holism, and acceptance.” -AllMusic
“An intricate, complex, and thoroughly gorgeous set of songs that weaves between folk, jazz, cumbia, bomba, art-rock and other sounds effortlessly and stunningly.” -Treble
“They combine the intuitive give-and-take of jazz with elements of cumbia, bomba, art-rock, and more into a singular voice. It’s audio magic born from reveling in the paradox of their experiences.” -Chicago Reader
“A mosaic of sound that challenges, delights, and inspires...a pivotal debut.” -Glide
“An eclectic, extravagant mix of histories, moods, manifestos and prophecies.” -Spectrum Culture
“Futuristic...rumbles with avant jazz, art punk, Chicago post-rock, bomba, plena, cumbia, Andean, minimal, electronica, and folk.” -WNYC New Sounds
MESTIZX is available on classic black vinyl and limited edition 140g "Red Moon" color vinyl; both come inside a heavyweight gatefold jacket, with large insert poster, IARC OBI strip and poly-lined dome-pattern innersleeve. Pressed at Pallas in Germany with lacquers cut by Daniel K at SST.
