GABRIELA MARTINA - STATES

slated to be released in May 2024

GABRIELA MARTINA (CH/US/NL) – voice & composition & arrangements
VANCIL COOPER (US) – drums & percussion
KYLE MILES (US) – acoustic & electric bass
JUSSI REIJONEN (FI/US/NL)– electric & acoustic guitar
MAXIM LUBARSKY (UA/US)- piano & keys
BEN ROSENBLUM (US)– accordion

Guest musicians:
JASON PALMER (US) - trumpet & flugelhorn
KHRYS WILLIAMS (US) - spoken word
NASEEM ALATRASH (Palestine) - cello

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Luis Bacqué
at ww.bacquerecording.com. New Jersey.
Assistant Engineer: Alex Conroy

Cinematography by Luis Bacqué
at www.bacquerecording.com New Jersey.

“GABRIELA MARTINA’S SWISS ROOTS OFFER AN INCREDIBLE RANGE AS SHE PRACTICALLY YODELS HER WAY THROUGH “NARCISSUS” EN ROUTE TO HER MOSTLY ORIGINALS PROGRAM ON NO WHITE SHOES (SELF RELEASE; 55:42 ★★★★)”

– DownBeat, John Ephland

My newest album called 'STATES', includes compositions that I been working on during the time of the pandemic 2020/21.

The word 'States' has more than one meaning. State comes from the Latin status meaning ‘condition of a country’. The word 'States' mostly gets associated with the United States of America. In what 'state of mind' are the 'States' currently finding themselves in? On this record I ex­plored word play, political tension, different states of mind in order to express my findings through sound.

Will sound alone be able to transform my intentions to an audience? I went back to the roots of music, which is simply voice and drums, and used these two textures as the core elements for my compositions. I took advantage of the fact that a vocalist can make music with words, but I paid just as much attention to work on the playful side of writing compositions with words that have no meaning (gibberish).

Where and what will our States be in 2024? 2028? In 2030?

All music and lyrics have been written by Gabriela Martina. Exceptions are the intro of 'Alpha Bird' where I recomposed Franz Schubert's 'Erlkönig' that is based on the poem of Goethe. And 'Dreams’, which is a re-composition from 'Dreams' by The Cran­berries, written by Dolores Mary O’Riordan and Noel Hogan.

Alpha Bird refers to the eagle that was chosen as the emblem of the United States of America back in 1782, because of its long life, great strength, and majestic looks. The eagle represents freedom ...

The lyrics are about the current 'state of the United States; so it speaks to the times we're currently finding ourselves in. The lyrical writing is influenced by Gertrude Stein.

FULL CIRCLE

 Full Circle is a piece about climate change, a high conflict. It is about being together on this planet earth and about the fact that we all have to pitch in in order to make ends meet. There’s no time left. We have to act now. Finding peace would be a first step in order to be able to find a common ground – quite literally speaking. We only have one planet that we all share together. So let’s get on this before it’s too late.

The spoken word section is written and performed by Khrys Williams. Music and lyrics are written by Gabriela Martina.

“What a breath of fresh air! Brilliant songwriter. This CD deserves more attention worldwide! “

– Bradley M. Stone, Host: “The Creative Source,” SoulandJazz.com Radio

“Martina’s take of “A Night In Tunisia” is the most powerful I’ve heard since Chaka Khan recorded it in 1981!”

- Jerry Gordon, Serenade to a Cuckoo WPRB 103.3 FM, Princeton University