musicians go on "blind dates" in rootnotes
Music brings people together. Thanks to Rootnotes, it’s not just some cliché. It's been described as a music documentary project, but we prefer the more romantic description: musical blind dates.
As with most dates, Rootnotes began with two people. One was the German-originated, Colombia-based Benjamin Kastl, the other Argentine-German Los Angeleno Eduardo le Comte. The pair share the same passion for music and the dream to make songs with their favorite artists, all spread across the globe.
That might deter most people, but not Ben and Edu (as they’re usually called). It was a challenge the two gladly accepted.
Ben and Edu set out on what-would-be a musical journey spanning three years, seven countries and 21 artists. Their goal was clear: “To find unique artists and to create songs that cross any kind of borders and cultural boundaries.”
To do that, they visited various musical hotspots along their trips and discovered local talents to be featured in their concept-album; the line-up even included a Latin Grammy nominee, Itawe from Miami. What Ben and Edu did afterward was setting up “blind dates” for these musicians. Two artists from two different countries were paired up to create and record a song.
Itawe, for example, teamed up with soulful Parisian Noraa; Brazilian favela-star MC Tchelinho with Colombian rapper Afroneto who added lyrics in his native language Palenquero; and Caribbean Elkin Robinson with Afro-German singer-songwriter Jean Felix. The result is a musical quest of an album with sounds ranging from hip hop to neo folk, trap to flamenco, Cumbia to favela funk, salsa to roots reggae and rap-folclorico.
Not just a musical album, Rootnotes also consists of a video series showing the incredible musicians and how music connects these cuturally diverse individuals. The first of the series has been published on October 15, signaling the launching of this ambitious project.
Keep on eye on Rootnotes’ YouTube channel for more music and videos from the project, as Ben and Edu further prove that music has no borders.