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THE NEW AMERICAS (CD Jewelcase Disc and Lyric Sheet Insert)
An on-going spiritual vision of twin flame songwriting team, Victoria L & Edward T Hammill, with many great musicians; VICTORIA& ZETA FIVE steps it up with a fusion of diverse cultures with clear and heartfelt vocals and new hot handed electric violin leads.
MUSIC: THE FUSING OF CULTURES
VICTORIA & ZETA FIVE hit the Austin live music scene in 2007 with rockin’ electric gunslinger violin blues, rhythm and blues, funk, jazz fusion, and soulful vocals. The town was buzzing about the new and unique signature sound of Victoria and her electric five string Zeta Music violin and Mesa Boogie; and with numerous live regional gigs played in Texas, the live show had become fun and entertaining and sounded great.
When the drummer bailed at the last minute from an upcoming Saturday night gig, the band had less than a week to find a replacement. Every reputable drummer in town was already booked, except for one, whose Saturday night gig had been cancelled. His name – Luiz Coutinho, or Koutobeat, or KB & The Batikum, for those who find his name difficult to pronounce.
As soon as Luiz confirmed his availability to do the gig, we quickly arranged a meeting to pass the playlist and repertoire material over to him on his Wednesday night gig at Phara’s Mediterranean Restaurant & Christopher’s Casbah, Austin, Texas.
When we arrived at Phara’s the host escorted us to the restaurant outside where people dined under the stars. That night, there was a balmy summer breeze and the place was charming with a great vibe, so we decided to order dinner and listen to Luiz perform with the guitarist, Oliver Rajimani, and a violinist. Soon the sound of Arabic Middle Eastern music wafted through the air, and belly dancers set foot on the stage.
The experience was mesmerizing, and amid the dance and music wafting through the air, we caught Luiz’s attention with a wave — a row of perfect white teeth flashed a smile from his dark face in the night, and during his break he joined us for conversation and took the material for rehearsal.
A few days later, he played performed with VICTORIA & ZETA FIVE on Saturday night. We hit it off with the “Quiet Storm / New Americas”. Luiz loved it!
Hence, the journey began with the fusing of music from diverse cultures — the American Rock, Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Funk, Jazz, and Classical influences of VICTORIA & ZETA FIVE, fused with Latin Brazilian, Afro pop, Arabic, and more — The Batikum (a.k.a. Luiz Coutinho).
The Quiet Storm represents the conception of the voyage from the East to the West, followed by the storm of change, and the melding of diverse cultures from Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, into the New Americas – a homeland of freedom, peace, and the opportunity for the pursuit of happiness for all.
In collaboration with VICTORIA& ZETA FIVE in the summer of 2008, The Batikum (a.k.a. Luiz Coutinho) incorporated rock, blues, rhythm and blues, and jazz fusion to create a new platform for dancing.
“... a magnificent gala, brought to you in living color, ancestral drums beating with a soul like no other ... To brothers and sisters dancing into the night, Laughing and singing under the Brazilian moonlight ... (Excerpts from Janaina Lyrics) “
And, here we are now, ten years later, in 2018, with the additional collaboration of some of Austin’s BEST musicians, such as; lead and rhythm guitarists, Sergio C. Yazbek (Cidade Negra), Chris Castaneda (The Castaneda Project), Michael Rodriguez (The Brew), Omar Molina (Solo Artist), Tim Dolbear (Sammy Hagar Band / Eclectica Recording Studio), bassists Kristopher Lee Wade (Marshal Ford Swing Band) and Caleb Rojas (Rojas Music), and background vocalist Kristopher Lee Wade and Kelley Glover (U Better Sing!), and voila – a new product that will both blow your mind and soothe your soul!
- Fast Track (Victoria Hammill)
Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Electric Violin, and Keyboard: Victoria Hammill, Drums & Percussion: Luiz Coutinho, Bass: Kristopher Lee Wade
Inspired by the high pressure demands of the corporate world and the strive to maintain my truth as a professional performing artist, musician, writer, and teacher; the music and lyric of the new single "Fast Track" brings a sense of calm and peace into today's hectic, fast paced world.
Lyrics:
Thinking about how it used to be, when we were young and free.
Riding the wind, playing hide and seek.
We were all best friends, chasing fireflies across the creek.
Now we’ve grown older with busy days,
with little time to play.
Working nine to fives, errands five to nine.
Sleepless nights, into the morning light.
Fast track, fast talk.
A fast snack, working against the clock.
Dead lines, long lines.
Cross talk, and the clock goes “tick tock, tick tock”.
After all’s been said and done,
does all really mean anything to anyone?
Taking rain checks, for special occasions.
Train wrecks with your love, from delays and complications.
Fast track, fast talk.
A fast snack, working against the clock.
Dead lines, long lines.
Cross talk, and the clock goes “tick tock, tick tock”.
Oh, how I long to be, my own true self again.
To dream again, to begin again.
Be best friends again.
- Quiet Storm / New Americas (Edward T. Hammill and Victoria Hammill)
Vocals & Electric Violin: Victoria Hammill, Rhythm Guitar: Edward T Hammill, Guitar Lead Outtro: Omar Molina, Drums & Percussion: Luiz Coutinho, Bass: Kristopher Lee Wade
In collaboration with Victoria & Zeta Five in the summer of 2009, The Batikum (Luiz Coutinho) incorporated rock, blues, rhythm 'n blues, and jazz fusion, to create a new platform for dancing.
Luiz Coutinho is a musician, drummer, and percussionist from Brazil, born into a family and culture of music and spirituality. While a young boy growing up in Brazil, Luiz Coutinho participated in several samba schools — Blocos Afros and Afoxes — collaborating with other musicians and studies, traveling all over Brazil, studying Brazilian culture from north to south.
In 1993 he arrived in the USA settling in Austin, Texas, "the live music capitol of the world" in an effort to broaden his love and knowledge of music. Coutinho has initiated his own interpretation of world music and dancing with The Batikum using his Brazilian influence with many different styles from Africa, South America, Central America, Middle East and Europe.
The Quiet Storm represents the conception of the voyage from East to the West, followed by the storm of change, and the melding of diverse cultures from Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, into the New Americas – a homeland of freedom, peace, and opportunity for the pursuit of happiness for all.
Lyrics:
u-m-m-m-m, ba da ba da …
I feel the Spirit here,
And its name is South by Southwest …
Stand up and clap your hands,
Feel the beat of the band,
Get in the groove,
And feel the room move,
The new Americas are here,
So let your voices ring!
Viva l’Americas Nueva,
Viva l’Americas Nueva,
Viva l’Americas Nueva,
Viva l’Americas Nueva.
Stand up and clap your hands,
Feel the beat of the band,
Get in the groove,
And feel the room move,
So, come join us on our heavenly flight,
Let the Spirit lift you to a natural high.
- Janaina (Edward T. Hammill and Victoria Hammill)
Vocals & Electric Violin: Victoria Hammill, Rhythm Guitar: Edward T Hammill & Tim Dolbear, Guitar Lead Outtro: Chris Castaneda, Drums & Percussion: Luiz Coutinho, Bass: Kristopher Lee Wade, Background Vocals: Kelly Glover & Kristopher Lee Wade
The making of “Janaina” was first conceived the Christmas of 2009, after returning to Austin from our fall 2009 mini tour in Wisconsin and Nashville. The “ancestral drum” rhythm guitar piece, inspired by our good friend and musician, Luiz Coutinho (a percussionist and drummer born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), is the key that opened the doors to glimpses of Brazil from America.
The song is about the longing to visit the homeland and family of his youth, and the heartstrings of his cherished daughter, Janaina, in the United States who bids him to stay for fear he may not return. Speaking his heartfelt desires to his daughter, his soul begins to feel the ancestral drums of his roots, and soon his thoughts take him to Brazil. He dreams of the kaleidoscope of color, dance, song and rhythms of The Carnival. Then he wakes, explaining to Jana that he must pack to see his Papa again, but not to worry, he will return because his life is with her in the USA.
Lyrics:
You asked me to stay,
but my heart wants me to go away.
You know I love you,
Child, I always will.
But I long for my home,
the city with Christ on the hill,
where life gives me such a thrill.
Is it a dream? … (Harmony, Rio De Janeiro)
I must be dreaming … (Community, Rio De Janeiro)
It seems so real … (Family, Rio De Janeiro)
I feel … (I’m drifting back home to Rio De Janeiro)
To a magnificent gala, brought to you in living color,
Ancestral drums beating with a soul like no other.
Celebrate! Rio De Janeiro.
Night Life! Rio De Janeiro.
Party! Rio De Janeiro.
Le Carnival!
Rio De Janeiro.
Brothers and sisters dancing into the night,
Laughing and singing under the Brazilian moonlight.
It's just a dream,
but it seems so real to me.
Child, let me pack,
I’ve got to see my papa one last day.
God knows I’ll be back,
My life is with you, in the USA.
- It's A Lazy Morning Rain (Brazilian Style) (Edward T. Hammill and Victoria Hammill)
Vocals & Violin: Victoria Hammill, Rhythm and Lead Guitar: Sergio C. Yazbek, Drums & Percussion: Luiz Coutinho, Bass: Kristopher Lee Wade
First released as a slow blues / jazz contemporary piece in the 2006 Victoria & Zeta Five "To Be Announced" album, this 2016 romantic Brazilian bossa nova jazz fusion single release of "It's A Lazy Morning Rain" reflects the piece in its original form, when the writers, love fresh and new, spirits laughing and murmuring to the rain, first collaborated.
Lyrics:
Raining, raining.
Drumming rooftops, air fresh and new,
It’s a lazy morning rain for making love.
Waking, waking.
Gentle hellos, embracing love.
Spirits laughing and murmuring to the rain.
Hearts joined as one,
beating in rhythms of love.
Eyes fixed in wonder,
‘tween vibrant souls.
Raining, raining.
Misty showers, dreamy rainbows.
It’s a lazy morning rain for making love.
- I've Known You Once Before / That Was Then, This Is Now (Edward T. Hammill and Victoria Hammill)
Vocals & Electric Violin: Victoria Hammill, Acoustic Rhythm and Electric Guitar: Sergio C. Yazbek, Drums: Luiz Coutinho, Bass: Kristopher Lee Wade
Inspired by a vision from the past, the listener goes on a folk-rock musical journey with the singer / songwriter meeting and sharing the haunting vision of a violinist, now manifest, who plays electric rock jazz fusion leads and hot handed blues like the legendary guitarists of the 20th Century.
Lyrics:
I know what I’m about to say, will seem quite strange.
I think I’ve known you once before,
In a different life, a different age.
And you look back with eyes that are screaming,
“Man … Man, are you insane?”
No … no, I just have a feeling, and it may take a lifetime to explain.
Seeing you standing on the stage, and me in the crowd,
I didn’t even know your name.
But there’s something inside telling me,
I know you feel just the same.
And to most, this conversation would seem quite insane.
Now I know this is not the proof to what I proclaim,
But when I know you better, I will know you just the same.
That was then, this is now.
Through our love, we’ll make it somehow.
Was twenty years ago before I met you, when I first wrote this song.
Now, here we are together, wondering …
where all the years have gone.
Was it a vision of the journey, I was about to take with you?
Or was it, was it déjà vu?
Now, seeing you standing on the stage,
and me, again in the crowd,
I’m haunted by a vision of a violinist,
who plays electric leads and hot handed blues,
like the legendary guitarists would do.
Seems like lightning strikes,
each time the bow touches string,
leaving the critiques in awe,
and you closer to your dream.
And it leaves me asking, if you’re the one.
a world class musician, whose journey has just begun.
That was then, this is now.
Through our love, we’re making it, somehow.
That was then, this is now.
Together we made it somehow,
me and you.
- Awakening (Victoria Hammill)
Vocals, Electric Violin, and Acoustic Rhythm Guitar: Victoria Hammill, Electric Lead Guitar: Michael Rodriguez, Percussion: Luiz Coutinho, Bass: Caleb Rojas
Originally inspired through the pain of having to put the dream of a lifetime on hold due to a series of unfortunate life circumstances, Spirit speaks of a rebirth to the mourner, giving what had become dorment, new life and the inspiration to continue the journey.
Lyrics:
Wake up, wake up little one,
Wake up, the day has begun.
The mourning has past,
The sun’s cast high in the sky,
The crow has cawed twenty-five past nine.
Don’t get lost in your dreams …
Rise up and meet the day.
I can’t wait to play.
Don’t be afraid, be brave.
I’m calling you my dear friend,
Calling you again and again,
To open the Gift,
and let the song fill your heart.
Be inspired, with the passion to play your part …
In the big picture of Life…
For the promise of life’s treasures.
I can’t wait to BE.
All in good measure, you’ll see.
My heart still dreams to Be alive.
My mind still strives to survive.
Pick up the pieces, stay the course.
Hurry, pack your bags, grab a snack,
Our caravan is pulling up the drive!
For the ride of a lifetime …
Now my vision is clear.
I can’t wait to drink the wine,
Open your eyes, and don’t you fear.
It’s time to move ….
It’s time to move …
Ba-da-da-oom, ba-da-da-oom
Start Moving.
Together, moving.
As One …
From sunrise, to sunset.
A special thanks to ALL the exceptional musicians and artists who helped make this album a success; most especially for their time, support, seasoned years of professional insight, and kindness. Thanks also to those in the Austin community who nurture my continued growth, to the fans who love and support this rockin' electric violin blues and jazz and fusion, for the creativity, support, and business savvy of my husband, Edward T and the beautiful Spirit of the music that blesses and flows through me. Thanks also to Tim Dolbear to his dedicated service and expertise as sound engineer and producer, and to Katie McDowell and Alyssa Dennison for their promo photography work. And many blessings to Gene Skaggs, Francis Compone, Catherine Ruivivar, and Silent Unity for their healing work and prayers, and to my family and friends whose positive support have helped make this CD a reality.
Recorded, Engineered, and Mastered at:
Eclectica Recording Studio
Tim Dolbear - Sound Engineer / Producer
Austin, Texas
Ph: (512) 219-0100
Email: dlbmusic@eclecticarecordings.com
Produced by Digimind Records
Austin, Texas
Ph: (512) 800-3217
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