It’s always good to go back to the Family. You can constantly feel at home with them and experience that comfortable atmosphere which smoothly makes you at ease. I don’t know if that’s because of the music they play, attitude they have, or good vibes they give out, but every performance of Family Atlantica is a panacea, a cure-all for every day-to-day problem.
That feeling was emphasised even further during the last gig played by the London-based ensemble at the Battersea Arts Centre. Luzmira Zerpa, Jack Yglesias and stage-partners displayed far and wide their brand new, shiny and sparkling album, published by Soundway and titled Cosmic Unity.
Despite the work is just four months old, the band already showed a remarkable cohesiveness when playing its tracks. The musicians effortlessly switched between styles, tempos, moods and traditions as if nothing was happening, moving from cumbia to afrobeat, reggae to ethio-jazz as if it was business as usual. Then, what was even more noticeable, was their ability to alternate their solo parts as if they had rehearsed and played them for years.
Finally, it was fun; really a lot of fun, as Family Atlantica has got us used to. The vitality of Luzmira Zerpa and her know-how in energising and gripping the audience’s attention is the added value of the project, and the Venezuelan artist was really keen to remember it to all her listeners. Throughout the gig, she gave life to impromptu call-and-response, dances and chorus, keeping up with the radiant character of the set-list presented.
To be fair, the audience was already pretty willing to move their hips and have good time thanks to Ezra Collective. The quartet, which introduced Family Atlantica’s performance, won everyone over with their elegant free-jazz, brightened by Latin and West African influences, and set the mood to a high-spirited night.
Every now and then, but not so often as to make you blasé, you can find yourself at a gig that will truly leave you speechless and absolutely quivering with the sheer joy of the experience, such is the level of the musical dynamics on show. This was one such…
Artists: Ezra Collective
Set in the heart of the Sussex Downs, Love Supreme Festival returned for its 6th year of spreading the gospel of jazz, blues and soul to some 40,000 music lovers. Unless you were the man who told me, bizarrely, that he “doesn’t like virtuosity in music”, you were going to…
Artists: Beat Replacement , Brand New Heavies , Earth Wind & Fire , Elvis Costello , Ezra Collective , Lalah Hathaway , Level 42 , Mavis Staples , MF Robots , Moses Boyd , Nubya Garcia , Steve Winwood , Tony Allen![Album Review: Various Artists – We Out Here [Brownswood Recordings; February 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/we-out-here-620x620.jpg)
Colours rise from dark contours as a London jazz renaissance takes form. Feeling both early and late, We Out Here captures the tones of this evolving shape. Tenor saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings directs the way, bringing together a collection of his most in-demand friends on the new-jazz scene. Familiar names such…
Artists: Ezra Collective , Joe Armon-Jones , Kokoroko , Moses Boyd , Nubya Garcia , Shabaka Hutchings , Theon Cross , TriForce
Que chido, güey! We knew that with Wahaca and their Day of the Dead festival, we were going to live an epic night, but we weren’t prepared for such an extraordinary experience… Next, to the high-powered performances of two of our favourites acts (Family Atlantica and Voodoo Love Orchestra), the…
Artists: Family Atlantica , Voodoo Love Orchestra
Less than a month ago, we had the pleasure to co-promote an exciting event at The Jazz Café. Family Atlantica and Vula Viel shared the Camden venue’s stage to give life to an electrifying show bringing together West African, Caribbean and Latin American vibes. Since, at times, we prefer to let the images…
Artists: Family Atlantica , Vula Viel
Before learning to walk and talk, Luzmira Zerpa was already singing… well, maybe that’s not literally what happened, but since an early age, the woman who would become the voice, cuatro player and relentless energetic drive of Family Atlantica grew up in an environment where listening to, singing and playing…
Artists: Family Atlantica , Luzmira Zerpa
It was a night to remember! Three exciting bands (Lakuta, Native Sun & Family Atlantica Duo) and a funky DJ (DJ Pete from On the Corner Records) for a unique show. Were you there? Recollect your memories and re-experience what happened at Rich Mix with our photo gallery. You missed it?…
Artists: Dj Snuff , Family Atlantica , Lakuta , Luzmira Zerpa , Native Sun , Pete On The Corner
Gilles Peterson has become synonymous with the continued revelation of the latest talents that fuse non-traditional jazz with musical influences from across the world. This explains why his twelfth annual worldwide awards sold out quickly and why many consider him an ambassador for world music, bringing new global concepts back…
Artists: Acid Arab , Ezra Collective , Gilles Peterson , Jameszoo , Jimetta Rose , Matthew Herbert , Michael Kiwanuka , Noname![Album Review: Family Atlantica – Cosmic Unity [Soundway, 13th May 2016]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/20160301102836-35e07520-3b01-4cb6-8bfd-f5309380c774-620x614.jpg)
Family Atlantica is ‘London’s musical melting pot at it’s very best’ according to reviews from The Guardian. The band, which consists of London-born multi-instrumentalist Jack Yglesias, Venezuelan vocalist Luzmira Zerpa, and half-Nigerian, half-Ghanian percussionist Kwame Crentsil, started out in an abandoned vicarage in Hackney, East London, before winning fans over with…
Artists: Family Atlantica
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