JOLLY DAYS

Rodrigo and Gabriela

We stumbled on a late night video of Rodrigo and Gabriela and watched the whole thing. Usually the special effects and abrupt editing wear off in music videos, but the two had a charismatic presence. Not to mention that the music is just great.

Rodrigo and Gabriela describe their style as 'Fusion music': “It's mainly got Latin harmonies and rhythms but the structure is rock. It's not jazz because it's structured, and we don't improvise; our solos are exactly what's on the record…”

This isn't the video I saw, but it gives you an idea of their expressive, trance ecstatic presence onstage — united in the driving energy, but contained, alone, surfing the flow of the music:

Unlike many paired musicians, they seem perfectly balanced, unique but equal contributors, in what they bring to the dramatic sound.

Here's another performance, of Diablo Rojo, in Europe, with an appreciative audience.