ATO Records
There’s a key midsong moment during funk/soul/psych maestros the Black Pumas’ signature hit song “Colors” (recently included on 2024’s Live From Brooklyn Paramount album). Cofounder and guitarist Adrian Quesada steps up to take his solo, but rather than break the mood with unnecessary fire, he purposefully strokes the melody with delicious accents and insinuations. Well, maybe some fire, too, but you get the idea. The performance is on YouTube if you require visual proof.
Aside from my and global devotion to the Pumas, Quesada has been looming large of late – and for me, personally, too. I was privy to a special solo deejay set he mounted several years back in Austin at a small club during the annual South By Southwest music festival. I’ve been a huge fan of his music and production work ever since. In 2022 he dropped solo album Boleros Psicodelicos (ATO Records), which was appropriately billed as an homage to ‘60s/‘70s Latin America psychedelic ballads. That gem now gets a glimmering sequel, Boleros Psicodelicos II (ATO).
Put simply, it’s truth-in-titling. Each of the 12 tracks spotlights the Latin vocals of Quesada’s handpicked vocalists, many of whom I and fellow gringos probably have not heard in the past. But as the Spanish language is suffused in nuance and melodicism, each singer delivers the goods, from Monsieur Perine (the lush “Agonia”) and Gepe (“Te Vas y Yo Te Dejo”) to Natalia Clavier’s soaring, deeply romantic “Tu Poder.”
There’s also a spine tingling, mostly instrumental Quesada composition, “El Diamanté,” that fully showcases his fretwork alongside his gifted – at times, gritty – ensemble.
The album may have its origins at the Southern border – Quesada operates out of his Austin studio and is of Texas/Mexico heritage, and won a 2011 Best Latin Rock Grammy with Grupo Fantasma – but it’s as soulful, jazzy, and, yes, at times, as psychedelic as it comes. Ain’t no ICE agents gonna keep its subversive charms at bay.
Fred Mills
Ex-Tucson/current NC resident
( Fred, I can’t wait to see him perform next month at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park-ED)
The album can be ordered here: https://shop.atorecords.com/product/ATLP580/adrian-quesada-boleros-psicodelicos-lp?cp=null