Jazzercise

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA DIVE HEAD FIRST INTO UNCHARTED WATERS ON THEIR DAZZLING NEW EP

- Joshua M. Miller

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA don’t consider themselves jazz heads — or even jazz guitarists. However, the guitar duo can’t think of a time when the genre didn’t influence them.

“I love listening to it,” Rodrigo says. “I have a few friends [who are] serious jazz players, and they recommend bands. I own a couple of restaurants and I love jazz being played in the background.”

During the past two decades, Rodrigo y Gabriela have seemingly run the gauntlet of musical styles, from flamenco to heavy metal. But they’ve recently taken their love for jazz to the next level, with the release of the aptly named Jazz EP. It features covers of three songs that have stuck in their heads of late, opening with a spirited rendition of Kamasi Washington’s “Street Fighter Mas.” They became fans after hearing the saxophonist’s 2018 album, Heaven and Earth.

“We decided to work on that song while we were in Chicago having dinner at these great vegan restaurants on Michigan Avenue,” Rodrigo says. “Suddenly that Kamasi track came on in, and we found ourselves really grooving with the song… I said, ‘We should record this one’ — but we didn’t know we were going to put out a jazz EP at the time. We just wanted to record it.”