This mix includes music from and inspired by my parent’s record collection, which I recently rediscovered at my family home in College Park, Maryland. From Ecuadorian sanjuanitos and pasacalles to boleros and pasillos. This music takes me back to my childhood when I used to visit my mother’s hometown of Cayambe for the summer and fully immerse myself in their San Juanito festivals. Diabluma musicians and dancers stomping, dancing, singing in the streets and into people’s homes. I’m reminded of the full band that played at my grandfather’s funeral march in the streets of Ayora, with the heavy sounds of horns and guitars playing as we walked towards the grave site. Man, those guitars. Nobody can make a guitar cry like Ecuador. I’m also reminded of when my parent’s good friend Paulina Tamayo would come to our family house parties and start singing in the living room, deep into the late night hours. Everyone would be in tears. How could you not?

Nowadays, it all seems pretty surreal. But for me, this music goes beyond nostalgia. I find its sound very relevant and reflective of today’s world full of pain, grief, love, yearning, gratitude for la tierra, and celebration of life. Never before have I ever connected so much with this music than now. This mix is dedicated to my parents, to Fresia Saavedra, and to all of the condor mensajeros desde la mitad del mundo.