Howe Gelb Alegrias

With 2006’s ‘Sno Angel Like You, Giant Sand main man Howe Gelb made a lovely, stirring record via an unlikely teamed with a gospel choir. Those adventurous impulses went to the next level with Alegrias, the outcome of an even stranger collaboration with a group of Spanish flamenco players, one of whom was famed guitarist Raimundo Amador. Recorded in Cordoba in the Andalusian region of Spain and originally released only in Spain, Alegrias finds Gelb expertly bridging the gap between his signature wide-screen Americana and the virtuosic Spanish folk music of his “Band of Gypsy.” The album was released by Fire in 2011 and produced by PJ Harvey associate John Parish. The album comes amidst Fire’s massive Giant Sand reissue campaign.

Abstract by Nate Knaebel