Disoriented by the world's growing violence and the political fantasies of the right, music has had a difficult time cutting through to my psyche. This brew by Villarreal, a musician I had not heard of until recently, brought in synch with my sanity and reminded me that there are sonic places where you can begin to align in this dispiriting environment that 2023 is. That is what my tastes are looking for the days and I'm sure my selections will reflect this.
Last year Villarreal released his debut solo album, Panamá 77 (named after the place and date of his birth), an irresistibly groovy, instrumental set that threads psychedelic funk, soul and jazz through traditional Latin-American folk. It was recorded with a large cast including guitarist Jeff Parker, known for both his work in Tortoise and solo records, and LA-based Australian bassist Anna Butterss, who’s served with Phoebe Bridgers, Jenny Lewis and Ben Harper and in 2022 released her first solo album, Activities.
All Villarreal’s projects see him expanding on his folkloric roots (though in fact, he cut his teeth on Panama City’s punk/hardcore scene in the ’90s), but with his second album he’s stretching out in a different way, relaxing the rhythms of cumbia, salsa and Afrobeat into sparer and more silken freeform pieces that channel the spirits of Ray Barretto, the Fania All Stars and Tony Allen, while sharing a genre ambiguity with Chicago adventurers like Tortoise, Isotope 217, New Fracture Quartet and the solo Parker. Lados B – it translates as “B sides” – draws from the same improv sessions as Panamá 77, specifically recordings made over two afternoons in October of 2020. Due to pandemic restrictions, the “studio” was Chicali Outpost, a patio garden in the LA home of International Anthem’s co-founder Scottie McNiece. Earlier live sessions in both LA and Chicago, plus several Outpost sessions, provided Villarreal with a ton of material to choose from and a handful of the recordings with Parker and Butterss made it onto that first album. One “super magical” session, though, demanded a release of its own. As Villarreal told Uncut: “It felt organic and raw improvising as a trio, with very minimal vibe to add in post-production. That’s what characterises those tracks [and led me to] thinking this can be a whole other album.”
Originally from Panama and now based in Chicago, Daniel Villarreal is a DJ, percussionist and drummer with several progressive alt-rock or folk-infused bands he co-leads such as Dos Santos, the Valebo duo or Yda Y Vuelta and which were all born out of the Latinx cultural hubs in North America. The drummer derives his style from a blend of popular Latin dance rhythms like Columbian Cumbia, Afro-Caribbean Salsa or Mexican Son with psychedelic rock, afrobeat, funk and jazz influences.
Following on from two well-received LPs with Dos Santos for the excellent Chicago-based International Anthem label, a 2019 impromptu gig in Los Angeles with a small ensemble sowed the seeds for what would become Daniel Villarreal’s first solo album.
Recorded over 5 sessions between 2019 and 2020 in three different locations, featuring 12 guest musicians and released on 20 May 2022 last, Panamá 77 is a fantastic instrumental album brimming with a vibrant creative energy. Released a year later, Lados B features unreleased music from the same performances and showcases Daniel Villarreal’s music in a striking trio formation.
When Dos Santos drummer/percussionist/composer Daniel Villarreal-Carillo issued the adventurous, polygenre Panamá 77 in 2022, he utilized an alternating cast of players. Two of the musicians, bassist Anna Butterss and guitarist Jeff Parker, also co-wrote five of that album's 12 tunes with him. Parker and Butterss are Villarreal-Carillo's accompaniment on Lados B. They recorded it during the pandemic over two days in October 2020 in the backyard of L.A.'s Chicali Outpost. This set differs from Panamá 77. In place of carefully constructed, painstakingly layered jams melding Latin styles with jazz, funk, rock, and psychedelia, we instead get a deeply intuitive, loose, open, and largely introspective three-way musical conversation, mildly related in feel to Parker's wonderful Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy (its lineup also included Butterss).
Villarreal-Carillo introduces opener "Traveling With" using various cymbals, cowbells, and chimes before his bandmates enter with a mysterious call-and-response Latin vamp. Bassist and bandleader accent (via overdubbing) and extrapolate the groove into a jazz-rock approach without sacrificing pulse. As the trio interact, their statements and responses serve to extend and buoy the groove into infinity. "Republic," at just under three minutes, is one of the most unfettered tunes here. Parker's West African-influenced guitar playing rides and glides atop Butterss' joyous bassline, hand drums, small percussion instruments, and a drum kit that double- and triple-times the band. "Chicali Outpost" is introduced by Butterss' upright alongside shakers and hand percussion. Parker plays a circular vamp via the guitar's ringing harmonics until Villarreal-Carillo joins with a drum kit and Parker begins to solo rhythmically and mercurially, winding around the riff, cutting through it, adding modal blues, post-bop, and edgy psychedelia. An upright bass solo, vamp, and spectral percussion introduce "Bring It." Parker's sonic guitar washes create an ambient backdrop as the drummer improvises alongside Butterss. The delightfully funky "Salute" is laden with organic drum breaks, a round, warm, elastic guitar vamp, and a contrapuntal bassline. Neal Francis joins the trio on a Rhodes piano, adding fingerpopping rhythm, harmony, atmosphere, and ballast to the vibe. "Daytime Nighttime" is edgier. Parker's treated guitar erects one vamp that's joined by Butterss. Villarreal-Carillo frames it by adding a shadow beat for Parker's solo, which weds blues and jazz to tango. The longest cut, "Things Can Be Calm," is a subtle, mysterious, drifting meditation in texture, syncopation, and repetition before closer "Rig Motif," which is full of fusion chaos and rock dynamics that careen into a 21st century futurist take on post-punk Panamanian salsa. Each instrumentalist solos, but always inside tightly structured rhythms.
Lados B offers an entirely different M.O. from the more stridently produced Panamá 77. That's not a knock. If anything, the more open approach to creating tunes on the spot is exceptionally appealing. That said, don't let sonic appearances deceive you: the music here is exquisitely complex, often subtle, and kinetic. It's probable that listeners will find Lados B a stronger outing than its predecessor, simply because its adventure and intimate conversations inspire exceptionally inventive sounds.
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