Latin funk “fusionistas” Electric Piquete release their debut full-length album Azabache on September 20. On the same day, Friday, September 20, at 8 pm you can join the band at Skatebird for their release party. Bassist and co-founder Michael Mut hopped on to the Jitney to write a bit about the record.
We cut “Chunk” back in 2019 for a separate project that unfortunately never saw the light of day. Ed, Chris, and I entered the Shack North studio in Hialeah to begin the bulk of the recordings on Azabache in December of 2021 with our friend, long-time producer, and collaborator Ferny Coipel. The process continued on and off through the summer of 2023. Chris recorded all of his final guitar parts at his Layland home studio.
We’ve been covering “Viva Tirado”, the Gerald Wilson / Fania Allstars standard, since 2013 when we prepped and played a Tribute to Fania show at the old Tobacco Road, but the song has an even deeper connection and meaning to the band. Ed put it on a mixtape for me in 1993 and that was my introduction to Latin jazz and the Fania sound. I never forgot that tune, and I believe it definitely cemented my bond to Ed as a musical mentor, and seeded what would become Electric Piquete.
“Muevete Con Ganas” has been around as a fully-realized song since about 2009. Believe it or not, it used to be called “Cheque Sin Fondo” (Spanish for “Bounced Check”), but Chris and I agreed that we needed to add vocals to it. I met MannySwagg several years ago when he was the percussionist / singer for the dynamic Sol Ruiz and her Tribu, and ran into him at the Spring 2023 Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival in Pittsboro, NC, where we agreed to collaborate somehow.
That summer, we asked him to join us at a Miami Beach OnStage! live concert, and the chemistry and energy was off the charts! That’s when we knew he would make a great guest vocalist on “Cheque”. So, he came in and nailed the lyrics and vocals in one session, which made us rename the song to match the hook he wrote. Pure magic!
“S.A.C.A.” is another idea that has been around for some time, and this effort finally gave us a chance to commit it to tape. “Timeless Faith” and “Decay Dance” are relatively new ideas that came together, with the former featuring our congero Raymond’s Spanish rap flow. “Paindemic” was conceived around the same time as those two, but it was finalized in the studio during the recording process.
The bonus track “Matted Spam” was cut in 2022 for a Y&T Music Pete Ham tribute and mental health fundraiser called Shine On. It was the second time we’ve gotten an opportunity to work with Rich Ulloa, and I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be a part of something he’s put his heart and soul into. The magnitude of all the other contributing artists is amazing to us as well.
