Boleros Valses Y Mas

Vinyl LP pressing including digital download. 2016 release, the Stones Throw debut from Frankie Reyes, the alias of Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker who also records as GB (Gifted & Blessed). Comprised mostly of popular Latin standards from the mid-twentieth century, the source material was reworked by Reyes under an approach he's dubbed "technoindigenous studies" which explores his Puerto Rican heritage through modern electronics. The inspiration for Boleros Valses y Mas formed when Los Angeles radio collective Dublab invited Gabriel to participate in an event themed specifically around Latin American modernism. "I thought about how I might capture the essence of this theme using my instrument of choice, the synthesizer. What came to mind was to cover some of the classic Latin American compositions that I grew up hearing around me and have grown to love as I've gotten older, most of them in the bolero style but a few in the waltz, son, and even mariachi style." By using audio-to-MIDI and sheet music-to-MIDI processing Gabriel has recontextualized these popular tracks easily overheard while visiting any of Los Angeles' predominantly Latino neighborhoods with a single Oberheim synthesizer. By removing the lyrics, the emphasis remains on the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic aspects of these classics, many still sung by Latin American artists today.