Listen to Mexilachia
release date Summer 2022
Lua Project is planning a tour!
Performances will take place
between July 1, 2023 — June 15, 2024.
Mexilachian song Project 2021-22
luaproject.org/son
Years in the making, this project features the core group of Estela Knott, David Berzonsky, Matty Metcalfe, and Christen Hubbard.
These talented artists are recording a set of original Mexilachian pieces, which blends Appalachian and Mexican song forms and poems, sprinkled with Dave’s Jewish-inspired melodic pieces, and featuring wonderful friends popping in to bring their flavors, including Craig Dougald, Ivan Orr, Sophia Enriquez, and Will Roman.
Previous virginia humanities supported work—Mexilachian son demo w. zenen zeferino
These are demo pieces from the Virginia Humanities grant supported project Mexilachian Son: New Songs from an Emerging Virginia Culture. These are original pieces done in collaboration with famed Veracruz Sonero, Zenen Zeferino, recorded by Bobby Reid of Small World Music, in Charlottesville, VA.
LA SIRENA (2004)
Produced in 2004 with Bobby Reid of Small World Music, with several songs recorded and produced with Mino Mele of Raiz Electronica in Lima, Peru. Here you will find mesmerizing original recordings of latin inspired songs, featuring the deeply powerful and stratospheric vocals of Estela Knott, singing beautifully poetic songs, and backed by some of the funkiest roots and jazz musicians of Charlottesville, VA and Lima, Peru.
BORROWED TIME (2007)
Recorded at Raiz Electronica studios in Lima, Peru, with co-creators Chebo Ballumbrioso, Javier Lazo, Gisela Perez-Ruibal Fuentes, Moises Carpio M, and Mino Mele, LUA creates Afro-Andino Soul, a fusion of our North American roots and the diverse styles of our musical co-creators in Lima, Peru. This project was a whirlwind of people, places, and sounds. There are elements of Andean and Criolla guitar styles, Afro-Peruvian percussion, and flute and vocal field recordings by Native artists from the Andean Highlands of Sicuani.
Add a sprinkle of organ, some chunky bass and drums, and serve it up with a slab of Estela's buttery vocals. Que vive, la criolla mundial!