Press Releases

• Oct 28 2011 RODRIGO Y GABRIELA ANNOUNCE NEW STUDIO ALBUM

  RODRIGO Y GABRIELA ANNOUNCE NEW STUDIO ALBUM

  AREA 52 SET TO BE RELEASED JANUARY 24, 2012

  RECORDED IN HAVANA WITH CUBAN ORCHESTRA

  ATO Records is excited to announce the release of the new studio album by Rodrigo y Gabriela. Entitled Area 52, the record was produced by the legendary Peter Asher and will come out on January 24, 2012. Area 52 contains nine of Rod and Gab’s favorite songs from their own catalogue re-arranged and re-configured for a 13-piece Cuban orchestra comprised of some of Havana’s finest young players, collectively known as C.U.B.A. It’s Rodrigo y Gabriela’s first recorded collaboration with another group of musicians.

  RodGab Jpeg Area 52 was mixed by Rafa Sardina, one of the leading studio musicians in the Latin music world, and arranged by London-based pianist, composer and arranger Alex Wilson. Recording took place in the Miramar district of Havana, Cuba, at Abdala Studios, founded by the Cuban folk hero Silvio Rodriguez, as well as at Rod and Gab’s studio in Ixtapa, Mexico. Other players on the record include: bassist Carles Benavent (Paco De Lucia, Chick Corea, Miles Davis), drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, Testament, White Zombie), sitarist Anoushka Shankar and drummer Samuel Formell (Los Van Van).

  “The album is called Area 52 because we felt like Mulder and Scully approaching this — it was just a crazy idea, to see if a big Cuban band could play our music, a step in the dark. We knew it was out there, everyone has heard of Area 51, but we wanted to take it a little further,” Rodrigo says. “We saw it as a trip into the unknown, an experiment,” he continues. “Okay we knew the producer, and had spoken to the arranger on Skype; but we didn’t know the musicians or the studio, or Cuba for that matter.”

  Fresh from scoring Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides with Hans Zimmer, Rod and Gab headed for Cuba in the summer of 2010 armed with their guitars, unplayed arrangements and a sense of intrepid trepidation. They had met Asher, known for his work with James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, 10,000 Maniacs, Diana Ross and others, as well as doing A&R at Apple Records, while working on Pirates of the Caribbean and came up with the idea for Area 52 shortly thereafter.

  Asher says: “Rodrigo and Gabriela are two of the most extraordinary musicians with whom it has ever been my privilege to work. From Gab’s complex multi-voice one-woman rhythm section to Rod’s searingly creative lead lines, they are forging genuinely new, exciting and viscerally powerful music.”

  While mindful of the rich history of Cuban music, Rod, Gab, Asher, Wilson and Sardina were keen to imbue the project with the vitality and brio that are synonymous with the fierce guitar duo. “We have great love and respect for the well known Cuban musicians,” says Rod, “but it was really important for us to seek out the best young players in Havana.” He adds: “Our music is high energy, high intensity; and we wanted guys who could interpret our vision and match our approach.”

  With career sales in excess of 1.2 million albums, blockbuster movie scores, sell out world tours that span London to Los Angeles, Paris to Tokyo and Dublin to Sydney, and not forgetting the love and respect of fellow musicians like Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Testament’s Alex Skolnick, Al Di Meola and L Shankar, Rodrigo y Gabriela have worked hard to reach Area 52.

  The band will be touring throughout 2012.

• Apr 03 2012 RODRIGO Y GABRIELA KICK OFF SPRING TOUR

  RODRIGO Y GABRIELA KICK OFF NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

  FIRST EVER TOUR WITH BACKING BAND
  WATCH THE NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “11:11” 

  NEW STUDIO ALBUM AREA 52 OUT NOW ON ATO RECORDS
  PERFORMING ON THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO APRIL 6TH

  Rodrigo y Gabriela kick off their Spring 2012 tour tonight April 3^rd at The Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA. The duo will be bringing the band C.U.B.A. on the road in order to showcase the thrilling and dynamic hybrid of metal, latin and jazz featured on their new album Area 52. The upcoming shows in North America, and their recent gigs in Europe mark the first time in their careers that Rodrigo y Gabriela have toured and performed with a backing band. Fans can also catch the band on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno this Friday, April 6^th, and later this Fall on Austin City Limits (Run Date TBA).

  “Being able to produce the level of complexity required live is really something else, and it’s done flawlessly. ‘Santa Domingo’ – the opening track to the new album – also has a particularly exceptional style to it, with the Cuban contingent in full flow and that tropical edge flitting in and out of the layering.”
  - State Magazine (Ireland – Review of Dublin 2/20/12 gig)

  Rodrigo y Gabriela’s new music video for “11:11” from Area 52 features the work of photorealistic artist Barry Jazz Finnegan. In the time-lapse video, Finnegan applies his talent to a photo of Rodrigo y Gabriela, meticulously re-creating the image on paper. It provides an apt analogy to the album Area 52, which pulls many parts together to form a cohesive whole. 

  Watch the new music video for the song “11:11”
  http://youtu.be/2uKtPVm6nb4

  Area 52 contains nine of Rod and Gab’s favorite songs from their own catalogue re-arranged and recorded in Havana with legendary producer Peter Asher and a 13-piece Cuban orchestra comprised of some of the country’s finest young players. The album was mixed by Rafa Sardina, one of the leading studio musicians in the Latin music world, and arranged by London-based pianist, composer and arranger Alex Wilson. Recording took place in the Miramar district of Havana, Cuba, at Abdala Studios, founded by the Cuban folk hero Silvio Rodriguez, as well as at Rod and Gab’s studio in Ixtapa, Mexico. Other players on the record include: drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, Testament, White Zombie), sitarist Anoushka Shankar and drummer Samuel Formell (Los Van Van).

  Watch the trailer for Area 52
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBBM-02joFU&feature=youtu.be

  Listen to “Juan Loco” from Area 52 on SoundCloud
  http://soundcloud.com/ato_records/rodrigo-y-gabriela-juan-loco
  www.rodgab.com

  Upcoming Tour Dates Below:

  APRIL
  03 – Seattle, WA – The Paramount
  04 – Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
  05 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
  07 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
  10 – Broomfield, CO – 1RSTBANK Center
  12 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
  13 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theatre
  14 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Hall
  16 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
  20 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
  21 – Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre
  23 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
  25 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
  26 – Charlottesville, VA – NTELOS Wireless Pavillion
  28 – Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle

  MAY
  01 – Miami Beach, FL – The Filmore at Jackie Gleason Theatre
  04 – New Orleans, LA – Jazz Fest
  05 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s