Photos: Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly to Release EP O

The Amsterdam-based duo of Bolivian/Brazilian multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti and Puerto Rican American ex-pat jazz drummer/composer Frank Rosaly have announced a new EP titled O, out on cassette and digitally October 16. The duo also shared details of upcoming performances in Budapest, Hungary, Brest, France, and Tampere, Finland, where they will do a debut performance of the music from O. The EP's lead track 'X' is out on all platforms today, alongside a video created by Ferragutti & Rosaly for the track. 'X' can be streamed and O can be preordered here.

Photo Credit: Erik Särna

O follows the release of Ferragutti and Rosaly's album Mestizx, which came via International Anthem & Nonesuch Records in May 2024. In this new body of work, the two artists find center in loose polyrhythm, pulse, trance, and longevity, interweaving contemplation of their Latinx backgrounds and vast sonic textures with deft craftsmanship. On O, Ferragutti and Rosaly create vast and dark landscapes that elicit sounds without origin, layers of field recordings and processed noise in matrices of embedded rhythms, and drumming.

The music is inspired in part by landforms and flora that provided life for Ferragutti and Rosaly's ancestors. O (Taíno, meaning 'mountain') takes a focused journey into Puerto Rican and Caribbean cultural practices. Forms like Bomba, Plena, Rumba, Batá, Vodou, Cumbia and Dub blend into new, imagined worlds, recontextualizing traditional elements with drums and synthesizers, marrying these practices into experimentation, speculation and worlding. O's musical meditations constitute a form of protest against hegemonic ascendancy. As a response, O's spirit seeks to foreground what matters most: its people and their cultural heritage.

Behind all this experimentation lies a deep layer which investigates Rosaly's Puerto Rican roots and his shared experiences on the island with Ferragutti, where 'the land unfolded and revealed itself' to them, says Rosaly. He adds: 'Insects, amphibians, waterfalls, deep jungles, and massive green landforms offered poignant insight to my ancestry… The territory plays an ancient game of telephone with my three-times great grandmother, through the jungle's canopy.' Ferragutti shares: 'Upon arrival in Puerto Rico my eyes teared up instantly. It was a combination of that lush humidity embracing you like a giant intangible warmth, and the sudden opening of a memory gateway of my beloved Brazil… A way of life that just unfolds by itself with a cadence of orchestrated rainforest and pulsating drums echoing at dusk.'

Ferragutti and Rosaly will perform a handful of shows across Europe this fall, including a premiere of 'O' at Tampere Jazz Happening, with special guest Ben Boye (Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society, Ty Segall, The Weather Station).

Tracklist

Escondida

18°14'46.3'N 65°47'08.3'W

X

O

Liberta

Sueño

Credits

Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti - voice, synthesizers, percussion, organ

Frank Rosaly - drums, percussion, synthesizers

with special guests

Ben Boye - synthesizers, pianet, autoharp (1-4)

Chris Williams - trumpet, electronics (3,4)

Composition: Frank Rosaly, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti

Lyrics: Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti except Liberta in collaboration with Frank Rosaly

Producers: Frank Rosaly, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti, Dave Vettraino

Executive Producer: Scott McNiece

Mixer: Dave Vettraino

Mastering: David Allen

Design/Layout: Frank, Ibelisse, and Aaron Lowell Denton

Artwork: J. Johari Palacio

Cover: Wavelengths II / Inside: Wavelengths I

Recorded at MOLK Factory, Amsterdam by Jochem van tol & Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti with additional recording in Puerto Rico, Ben Boye in Los Angeles & Chris Williams in New York, Summer 2026.

Live Dates

October 3 - Mestizx band @ UH Fest/Trafo in Budapest

October 9 - Mestizx duo @ Atlantique Jazz Festival, Brest

October 28 - 'O' premiere (with special guest Ben Boye) @ Tampere Jazz Happening

About Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly

Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti is an Amsterdam-based multi-medium artist who has worked as a performer, theatre maker, vocalist, visual artist, musician and teacher. Raised in Bolivia within Bolivian and Brazilian families, Ferragutti describes their work as 'deeply interwoven in post-colonial justice, the paradox and beauty between grief and celebration, Andean Cosmology as a source of reclamation, resistance and resilience. Embodiment embedded in sonic fabrics while speculating myths through word oracles. I am a neo-mestiza, a spiritual activist, a femme defender and a Moon lover.' Her notable musical collaborators include: Alabaster DePlume, jaimie branch, Ab Baars, Wilbert de Joode, Eric Boeren, Mary Oliver, Paul Koek, and The Paper Ensemble. Along with her partner Frank Rosaly, Ferragutti founded the DIY arts/music space MOLK FACTORY in Amsterdam in 2017. Learn more about Ferragutti here.

Frank Rosaly is a Puerto Rican drummer, composer, and sound designer with several decades of touring, performing, recording, and creating to his name. Born and raised in Arizona, Rosaly was known for his fifteen years of creative work on the Chicago jazz and improvised music scene, before moving to his current residence in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 2016. He has been featured on over 150 recordings, and is in constant collaboration. Artists he has worked with include: Fennesz, Joan of Arc, Jeff Parker, Thurston Moore, Nels Cline, Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society, Colin Stetson, Rob Mazurek, Ryley Walker, jaimie branch, and many others. Since 2005 Rosaly has self-released recordings under the MOLK label, and in 2017 co-founded the DIY arts/music space MOLK FACTORY with his partner Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti in Amsterdam. Learn more about Rosaly here.