After spending years building a coalition of like minded colleagues & comrades equally passionate for contemporary jazz, Chicago's Sparklmami's debut album is an homage to public art and her upbringing.
Sparklmami is the musical act of Chicago's own Arielle Granado, a student of not only Pharoah Sanders and Arthur Verocai, but Angre Gibson and Jesus Wayne. Academically, but more creatively, Granado grounds her work in her studies as a student of multiple art scenes. Sparklmami is the conscious result of public access television, community art workshops, and a deep love for timeless jazz.
For years, Granado has been collectively saving influences from the everyday and mundane. Keeping numbers from friends made at house shows. Deep diving into 80's block party footage from Chicago's public broadcasting programs. Memorizing a line from her parents favorite Mexican bolero. These influences culminate to a bright and passionate home embodies the art that's always shaped the communities throughout Granado's different chapters. Granado has been building her coalition of like minded creatives and building her visual brand with eccentric visuals found in videos such as "fajas" and "runnin," along with appearing for fun live performances such as her episode on Elevator Music. In This Body transcends the realms of funk and contemporary jazz, offering a refreshing take on the subgenre through a lens inspired by Granado's Chicago upbringing.
Granado is a multidisciplinary artist and her touch can be seen on all fronts of the project, from the music itself to the cover art and the visual direction of her visualizers and music videos. Every aspect carries so much character. It offers an insight on the type of art she consistently surrounds herself with and allows a passionate voice to shout out those very same influences.
In This Body was first announced weeks ago, but was years in the making. Nothing is more evident of this than the album opener "No Te Vayas," a bright intro not just to start, but thematically gives a deeper insight into Granado's influence from 80's era block party shows. It gives a subtle nod to the radio show era with its own introduction and simultaneously works as a funky, danceable preamble.
Despite not ending the project on this same concept, Granado still takes a lot of creative liberties with the bulk of the songs, keeping familiar earlier releases tracks like "fajas" and "runnin" towards the start of the album to leave more space to dissect and marinade with newer material. Shortly after, listeners get introduced to songs that add to the overall depth of the project, where Granado's concepts flow more abstractly.
“Pensó en voce” is probably the final moment that is painted by more light hearted, joyous jazz sounds and its right after where Granado introduces a more subtle, intimate nature. Despite being the last "joyous" moment on the project, “Pensó en voce” has proven to be the ear worm that consistently brings me back for seconds through its eccentric use of vocal harmonies and Bossa Nova inspired melodies. The following final three tracks can’t be described as sad, but take more intimate approaches to subtle storytelling; as laid out by the haunting “tt was 5 AM.” Despite not focusing in on dense lyricism, Granado still paints a surreal picture of her childhood, portraying moments through minimal, yet intimate details. It's a balanced blend of fast-paced jazz instrumentation with storytelling built in its dna.
An appreciated aspect to the album comes through the spirit of collaboration. A bulk of the music played is performed by a band of Granado's closest colleagues within the other scenes such as Eddie Burns, William Corduroy, Alec Trickett, Josh Jessen, and Kenneth Leftridge Jr. They all mesh exceptionally well with other notable artists brought onto the project such as Nico Segal of The Social Experiment and Alex Santilli from Thee Sacred Souls.
In This Body is a masterclass of song composition and vividly written instrumentation, coming from the mind of the colorfully eccentric and curious. Granado brings together an extraordinary team of players who are all monsters of their own class to execute an exploration of heart and upbringing. To conceptualize the world Granado sees and hopes others will one day too. A world painted by vivid colors and endless imagination.
Stream in this body out now on all platforms and connect with Sparklmami here:
