Fontana Rosa by Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18
Still possibly the world’s only musical group to fuse Latin music of all kinds with the Welsh language, Fontana Rosa sees Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 this time drawing inspiration from slightly different musical corners, including Chicano Soul, Nuyorican pop, and Salsoul disco - Latin sounds filtered through the cultural spectrum of the U.S.A.
Most significantly though, the album was among the last ever to be recorded by the acclaimed producer Liam Watson at his legendary studio and shrine to all things analogue, Toerag Studios - a huge inspiration and influence on Rio 18’s head honcho Carwyn Ellis.
The album sessions saw Carwyn draw together an all-star band for this last hurrah at the fabled studio, including incredible musicians from Venezuela, Brazil, USA, Colombia & the UK.
On Liam’s last day at Toerag, he transferred the tapes to digital so Carwyn could finish the album at Sain Studio in Llandwrog, North Wales with the brilliant engineer and producer, Aled Wyn Hughes. Says Carwyn, "We’d had such a Latin-infused ball at Toerag this one last time, and we know Liam did too. The place has had such an impact on my musical life and I wanted to see it go out in a blaze of tuneful glory. Job done."
Tracklist
| 1. | Hei Ti | 2:48 |
| 2. | Te Adoro | 4:00 |
| 3. | Lovesick | 3:41 |
| 4. | Impossible | 3:38 |
| 5. | La Quichimba | 2:21 |
| 6. | No More Secrets | 5:32 |
| 7. | Fontana Rosa | 3:15 |
| 8. | Heartbreaker | 3:43 |
| 9. | Mariposa | 3:41 |
| 10. | Deffro'r Dydd | 3:25 |
Credits
Carwyn Ellis - lead vocal (track 7), guitars, keyboards, vibraphone
Elan Rhys - lead vocal (tracks 1,3,4,6,8 & 10) & backing vocals
Baldo Verdú - lead vocal (tracks 2,5 & 9), congas & percussion
Shawn Lee - drums on all tracks, acoustic guitar on track 7
Rupert Brown - percussion
Kassin - bass guitar on tracks 4,6,8,9 & 10, classical guitar on track 7
Jose Miguel Frias Cabrera - additional percussion on tracks 8 & 9
Andy Platts - backing vocals on tracks 3,4 & 6
Jim Hunt - sax solo on track 6 & flute solo on track 10
Little Barrie - lead guitar on track 8
Diego Laverde Rojas - harp on track 7
Aled Wyn Hughes - double bass on track 7
Jon Mainwaring - trumpet on tracks 6,9 & 10
Rhys Taylor - saxaphone on tracks 6 & 10
Patrick Rimes & Aneirin Jones - violins on tracks 4,6,8 & 9
All tracks written by Carwyn Ellis except track 1 written by Carwyn Ellis, Baldo Verdú, Elan Rhys, Rupert Brown & Shawn Lee, track 5 traditional arranged by Baldo Verdú and track 10 written by Carwyn Ellis & Elan Rhys.
Produced by Carwyn Ellis, Liam Watson & Aled Wyn Hughes
Recorded at Toerag Studio, London by Liam Watson and at Stiwdio Sain, Llandwrog by Aled Wyn Hughes
Mixed by Pierre Duplan & Shawn Lee at The Shop Studio, London
Mastered by Andrea de Bernardi at Eleven Mastering
Cover art by Mark Warrington
Letterpress logos by Nigel Draper at The Amplifier Press
Design and layout by Rich Chitty at Ctrlalt Design
License
All rights reserved.
