Writing about, curating and consulting on music and culture in context for magazines, recordings, books, podcasts, movies. Bylines: BIllboard, Audible, uDiscover, Concord, No Depression and many more.
Noah Kahan: A New Season
The setting of Noah Kahan's album "Stick Season" in Vermont, where I have family ties; his meaning-layered songs, and his advocacy for young people's mental health have all struck a chord with me. As the leafless trees, grayness and cold of Vermont's "season of the sticks" was approaching, I interviewed Noah for No Depression's winter 2023 issue.
The Best Camarón de la Isla Songs: 15 Revolutionary Flamenco Tracks
There’s one word commonly associated with Camarón de la Isla’s voice: goosebumps. Others call it simply “the Camarón effect.” Young, old, gypsies, non-gypsies, and, at this point, several generations of Spanish and global fans regard Camarón as the greatest flamenco singer of all time. Here, I told Camarón's story through his timeless recordings for uDiscoverMusic.
Júlia Colom: Sing to Live
I traveled to Mallorca to profile singer Júlia Colom for No Depression magazine and explore the forgotten history of the island's tradition of agricultural work songs, and the people who sang them.
Miro's Music
When the artist Joan Miró died in 1989, at the age of 90, he left behind an extensive and eclectic record collection as well as his famous body of work. As this playlist attests, his taste knew no borders, and his obsessions ranged from jazz and flamenco to the most cutting electronic edge sounds. The music he embraced was both spiritual and experimental, and always inspirational. Click through to read more, and listen to the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/56QmLYSR0ubmZStzvzvjzd?si=a91a8339022b4aef
Punk in Translation: A Podcast Series in English and Spanish
I am the Story Producer and Lead Writer of Punk in Translation, an Audible Original Podcast, winner of two Signal Awards and two Latin Podcast Awards and winner of a prestigious Ondas Award in Spain. The eight-episode narrative non-fiction series explores the parallel evolution of Latino identity and punk music, from the secret Latino history of New York's CBGB to East LA's Chicano punk scene and the Cuban roots of cha-cha-cha to teenage rebellion in Tijuana, .
Qué culpa tengo yo: La música cubana en Miami en los años 90
Los cubano-americanos en Miami se encontraron cara a cara con los cubanos de Cuba, viéndose los unos a los otros como en un espejo de feria distorsionado. La música fue un grito de guerra en las batallas culturales. Pero también hubo conciertos estáticos donde tocaron músicos de la isla. Para algunos de nosotros, presentes en el público, esas noches fueron celebraciones de una música nueva e increible. Para otros fueron, de alguna manera, como regresar a casa.
Para muchos de ellos, conseguir esa música fue como encontrar un mensaje en una botella, destapando una Cuba real.
Michael League's Musical Movement in a Small Town in Spain
For No Depression magazine, I traveled to Els Prats de Rei, a medieval town of 500 people with one bar and a community pool an hour from Barcelona, where Snarky Puppy's Michael League and other international musicians have made a home in what were neglected but amazing stone-walled houses.
‘Cole Espanol’: Nat King Cole In Spanish
Nat King Cole made his debut under the stars on the Tropicana’s outdoor stage in March of 1956 with a setlist of satiny American hits that were just as popular in Havana. Cole performed with Armando Romeu Jr.’s orchestra, the famed nightclub’s house band, which would later record the tracks for the King’s first album of swinging romantic Latin ballads in Spanish: Cole Español. I had a swinging time myself revisiting one of my favorite albums for Udiscover Music.
Sammy Figueroa Discovers His Father's Music
On his new album, the Puerto Rican percussionist embraces the music of bolero singer Charlie Figueroa, the father he never knew.
Flamenco Resistance
In a low-lit, cave-like, whitewashed room two guitarists and two singers sit on high-backed cane chairs. Over the next hour, the quick-fire tapping of heels and handclaps contrast with the keen of a veteran singer’s voice that’s been marinated for a lifetime in the deep corners of the soul. It’s the sound of what’s often called the Spanish blues.
The flamenco tablao is a typical Spanish postcard scene. It's also the lifeblood of flamenco dancers and musicians, and since the pandemic began, shutting down live music clubs, a symbol of the artform's inherent resistance to a changing world.
Poetry, Guts, and Keyboards: Charly Garcia’s Iconic Songs
I was inspired by the Oscar-nominated movie "Argentina 1985" to take a look back at Charly Garcia's early songs.
Panart's THE COMPLETE CUBAN JAM SESSIONS box set
I was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award for my liner notes for The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions box set. I also co-produced this five-album reissue of legendary recordings made in the Panart studio in Havana, re-released on Craft Recordings. The pioneering Panart jam sessions, which were born as an all-night, rum-fueled party on a Havana night in 1956, marked a milestone for what would become known as Latin jazz.
Historias del Nueva York latino: Bobby Marin
Los discos cuentan historias en las palabras de Bobby Marin, productor y compositor pionero del boogaloo y latin soul, y hoy dueño del sello Mambo Music.
Vermont's Flavor Empire
My feature in American Airlines’ American Way magazine profiled the amazing, articulate people behind the food and drink revolution in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. At a time when it's easy to feel helpless about things happening around us, their ability to take action, doing what they love while having such a positive impact on their environment, is so inspiring and important.
New York Latin Stories: Bobby Marin
Records tell stories in the words of Bobby Marin, pioneering producer and composer of boogaloo and Latin soul, and today the owner of the Mambo Music label.
*The English-language version of my story on Bobby for GladysPalmera.com