Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti (BO/BRA/NL) & Frank Rosaly (US/NL)

Frank Rosaly and Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti share musical and ancestral roots within the Latinx diaspora of Bolivia, Brazil and Puerto Rico. They unite forces on their debut, full-length record as co-composers, arrangers and musicians. In it, they pay deep reverence to their lineage without the confines of tradition or genre. They are fascinated by the never-ending beauty of latin rhythmic patterns, microtonal mountain flutes and oblong swing from the pre and post-colonial Latin American region. With references to free jazz, electronica, Chicago post-rock, bomba, plena, cumbia, ambient, Andean, minimal, noise, punk and folk, the record illustrates several sides of a decolonialization process in a deliberately
loose, eclectic & celebratory story. The music harkens to the richness of ritualistic gatherings, which they recognise as an intrinsic form of resilience and resistance, as well as a deeply necessary practice that most humans seek— in church, ritual, the dance club, music festivals and other gatherings.

An atmosphere of their native ecologies appear throughout the record. Allegoric symbolism and dance traditions from the Caribbean and Andes materialise. Sometimes as a distant memory, often scrupulously.
These aspects have shaped the music to represent Latin cultures and it is deeply woven in the fabric of an eccentric, speculative song-story, rhyming with echoes of protest music marked by post-dictator realities and various socio-political instabilities.

Joining them on this recording is a community of international musicians and beloved friends in a collective assembly of celebratory protest music: Matt Lux, Avreeayl Ra, Ben LaMar Gay, Daniel Villarreal, Bill Mackay, Rob Frye, Mikel Patrick Avery, Chris Doyle, Guilherme Granado, Viktor Le Givens & Fredy Velásquez.

MESTIZX will be released internationally (LP/CD/DL) on Chicago’s International Anthem on May 10, 2024.