Tesoro’s Resplendent Dazzle
A new self-released studio album captures the essence of the band’s live performances.
The musical palate of this 11-track, self-titled album is beautifully complex while remaining completely accessible. Tesoro melds amazing instrumentation with passionate vocals that are at times bold, other times mellow, but always richly textured. The sexy, sultry songs cull from a variety of styles with flamenco at the core.
Co-founder/guitarist Justin Fernandez says, “We’ve officially dubbed it as Latin Gypsy Pop—flamenco on steroids if you will. We also incorporate the puro flamenco influences that [lead guitarist] Brian and I have, but also bring in Latin pop and rock sounds, including funk and blues. We did include a couple tunes on the new album that are more traditional than the Tesoro classic sound. We included Malagueña, and a Bulerias (flamenco rhythm) song, named Ángel Caído. They capture the aggressive nature of flamenco guitar and the powerful rhythm that Tesoro loves so much.”
The fans love those powerful rhythms as well, as witnessed during the band’s high energy live shows. The infectious tunes compel fervent dancing by some, others may just rock back and forth in their chairs but all are moved by the music.
Between the band’s tight delivery and Venezuelan-born singer Efisio Giordanelli’s heartfelt vocals, there’s an insistence to listen. The group—which also includes lead guitarist and co-founder Brian Scott, Andrew McClarron (bass, vocals, percussion, cajon, mellotron) and Gabriel Kaiser (drums, percussion, cajon) —is comprised of professional musicians that regularly rehearse. The five bring to the table a wide-range of influences, “combining old school music and the new school that is fresh,” Fernandez explains. “Anything from Zeppelin and Sabbath, to Paco de Lucia and Gipsy Kings, to Cultura Profetica and many more. We encourage each other to constantly broaden our horizons with new music and our original music definitely reflects the broad range of influences we use to write music.”
The songwriting process is a collaborative effort, Fenandez says. “We work together with just guitar and vocals developing new ideas, and will also write new parts and arrangements as a full band. Lyrics are also collaborative, but with Efisio being the only fluent Spanish speaker and lead vocalist, he devotes an extraordinary amount of time working and reworking lyric ideas we many already have to ensure they are the best for the song, and therefore our amazing fans. The songs have been old ideas that we reworked to fit vocals, and also wrote several new songs specifically for the album. It’s been a blast of a process, the hard work and dedication to write and record an all-original album is extremely rewarding. Most of the tunes were written in 2013 as we were recording. Some were ideas from 2012 that were instrumental tunes that we rearranged to add vocals.”
This studio album adeptly captures the resplendent dazzle of Tesoro’s live vibe. The tracks were laid down, produced and mixed at Waterworks Recording by Jim Waters at the helm; Fen Ikner provided the mastering.
“We met with Jim, shared some ideas and next thing you know we were in pre-production and starting our new album,” Fernandez shares. “He’s been able to push each and every member of the band to create the best music in the studio and capture the essence of a high-energy live Tesoro performance. We’re finished and couldn’t be more proud of the outcome. An all-original album to share with the world.”
On March 15, Tesoro performed in Austin, Texas as part of the official showcases of the South by Southwest music festival, at Tap Room at The Market. The CD release party is at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., on Friday, March 21 with Foxtail Brigade, 8 p.m., $5. CDs are available at live shows and on the website. Visit TesoroTucson.com for more information.
Tesoro celebrates a CD release party at Club Congress on Fri., March 21.
photo: Serena Rose
Category: MUSIC
