While I've been posting jazz or classical covers of rock/pop songs I want to do something different today. I've been following Rodrigo y Gabriela since 2009 release of their self titled album. Amazingly talented guitar players. They both have their origins in Mexican heavy metal but quickly grew tired of that scene. In 1999 they moved to Dublin in spite of the fact they spoke no English. They took their time to hone their sound by busking/playing live on the streets of Dublin, Ireland.
Here they cover LINGUS originally recorded by multi-award winning jazz group Snarky Puppy. The track was on Rodrigo y Gabriela's 3-song Jazz EP released in 2021. Snarky Puppy first released the song on their 2014 album We Like It Here. Both versions are really quite amazing. Enjoy.
Incidentally, Michael League of Snarky Puppy who composed LINGUS paid compliment to Rodrigo y Gabriela when he remixed their version of LINGUS for digital release.
If you’ve never heard of Rodrigo y Gabriela you have been missing out on something quite interesting, inventive and magical. I first heard them while I was working in music retail and their eponymous first album was released. I’ve been following them ever since.
This duo’s background is in heavy metal, which is the music Rodrigo’s band played and Gabriela was more-or-less a “groupie” that followed his band. Then they started dating and playing acoustic guitar. They found they had a real chemistry and explored their cultural roots in flamenco. They stopped dating when they discovered that the relationship was getting in the way of the music they wanted to make. And that’s when their music really started to take off. They began by “busking” around Ireland and Europe which is how they were discovered which would lead to their first recording. Several years and several albums later they released their most recent studio album Metallovution which won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Album.
Over the years, in addition to writing their own material, they have covered many rock legends like Led Zeppelin, Slayer, et al, with their acoustic flamenco guitar style. These song selections always allowed them to leave one foot firmly grounded in heavy metal while continuing their acoustic style. They have, in recent years also been delving into jazz. their most recent EP is a 3-song cover of contemporary jazz covers by Snarky Puppy, Kamasai Washington and legendary tango composer Astor Piazzolla.
Todays video is a wonderful live video that was recorded at a 2014 show at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado, USA where they perform an instrumental Metallica medley. Now aside from Metallica’s “Black Album” I’ve never been a big fan of the group. But this video is wonderful to see and hear the type of energy the music contains without the ear shredding vocals, drums and searing electric guitar. As an added bonus they are joined by one of their idols, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo. So enjoy this medley of 4 songs by Metallica: “Orion” “For Whom The Bell Tolls” “The Frayed Ends of Sanity” and “Battery”.
... on being and becoming ... 