Family Atlantica - Family Atlantica (2013)

Recorded around 2009 in London and Venezuela, Cuban rumba, Venezuelan tambor and tonada, Ghanaian highlife, Ethiopian blues and calypso have been soaked and infused with psychedelia and spiritual jazz to come up with what Gilles Peterson described as “a really great record”. The DJ and tastemaker included the band in his recent ‘Hot For 2013 Show’ on BBC 6music, premiering the track Cumbacutiri.

A diverse host of heavyweight musicians from both sides of the Atlantic are led by London born Jack Yglesias, producer, multi-instrumentalist and a veteran of The Heliocentrics, and his wife Luzmira Zerpa, traditional Venezuelan musician, poet and singer with a magical voice acclaimed by Manu Chao.

Recorded while living in an abandoned vicarage in East London, the record contains three different generations of Luzmira’s family as well as a cast of musicians from the wider Family Atlantic family.

One of the guests on the album, legendary Ethiopian-jazz maestro Mulatu Astatke, adds a classic touch on piano to ‘Escape To The Palenque’, soloing in his unmistakable flowing Ethiopian 6/8 style. Also featured on the record are Senegalese Nuru Kane and Afro-Cuban group Yoruba Andabo. Much of the record was recorded by the Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto at their East London studio.

In 2008, Luzmira traveled to the Sahara Desert in the south of Algeria to participate in the Fi-sahara Festival. While there she performed with Manu Chao who introduced her to the audience as the most beautiful voice to arrive to the desert.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Family Atlantica - Fly Through the Lightning to Speak with the Sun (2:58)
1.02 - Family Atlantica - Incantation to the Ancestors (0:29)
1.03 - Family Atlantica - Arena (4:24)
1.04 - Family Atlantica - Cumbacutiri (5:35)
1.05 - Family Atlantica - Libation at the Gate of No Return (1:33)
1.06 - Family Atlantica - Jaia (4:07)
1.07 - Family Atlantica - Manicero (3:29)
1.08 - Family Atlantica - Pranto do Banzo (1:43)
1.09 - Family Atlantica - Escape to the Palenque (3:00)
1.10 - Family Atlantica - El Apamate (4:04)
1.11 - Family Atlantica - El Negrero (Slave Ship) (3:02)
1.12 - Family Atlantica - Gaita Psycadelica (5:16)
1.13 - Family Atlantica - Myths and Proverbs (0:57)
1.14 - Family Atlantica - Clavelito Colorado (5:41)
1.15 - Family Atlantica - Eboka Ritual (0:54)
1.16 - Family Atlantica - Tamunangue Blues (6:15)
1.17 - Family Atlantica - The Griot's Blessing (0:17)
1.18 - Family Atlantica - Pescador Saharawi (4:07)
1.19 - Family Atlantica - La Familia (4:03)
1.20 - Family Atlantica - Speak to the Spirit of the Sea (1:25)