ABOUT ÁRABE

The fourth full-length release by vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Amanda Ekery,  Árabe invites audiences to explore Syrian and Mexican shared history and culture on the El Paso border - the story of Ekery’s life, lineage and identity. It features twelve original songs and accompanying essays with the stories and history behind each track covering everything from food, gambling, and evil eyes, to immigration law, biracial identity, and the fraught relationship between immigrant entrepreneurship and workers’ rights.

Each track conjures a rich creative world informed by research and Ekery’s distinct personal style. Ekery spent over 5 years developing Árabe, conducting interviews with her family and the Syrian Ladies Club of El Paso, working with Yale SWANA scholar Dr. Mark Eggerman, researching Syrian and Mexican immigration and migration, and completing an artist residency at the Arab American National Museum located in Dearborn, MI which is home to the largest population of Arabs outside of the Arab world.

Ekery’s writing naturally lives across borders of genre and style. The El Paso, TX native’s background in country swing, mariachi, creative improvisation, and jazz can be heard in her new album with tracks ranging from free jazz improvisation on “Double Faced,” to Americana folk on “Lucky,” to heartfelt lyrics on “To Give,” to the scathing Sondheim-esque “Between.” Ekery was awarded the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer’s Award for “Three Days,” the fourth track on Árabe. The album was recorded at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn, NY and mixed by Grammy nominated engineer Jennifer Nulsen, mastered at Welcome to 1979 studios in Nashville, TN  by Bobbi Giel, produced by Bobby Lane, and includes Ekery on voice, her longtime collaborator Andrew Boudreau on piano, as well as Jess Tsang on percussion, Jhoely Garay on guitar, Emily Johnson-Erday on mandolin, and Hannah Marks on bass.

Árabe was released digitally and as an art book with vinyl in a limited run of 250. The art book was designed by Amanda Ekery and Ross Wightman and includes Árabe on vinyl, essays for each track, and restored family and historical photos. The stunning end paper design features a tile pattern which is a nod to both the Ottoman Era Damascus tile and Talavera Mexican tile styles with illustrations of native Chihuahuan desert plants. The cover image, also taken by Ross Wightman, features Ekery in front of El Paso’s mountain range wearing Lucchese boots made in El Paso the “Boot Capital of the World.” The art books were printed in Mexico City by Nocaut, and the vinyl was pressed at Physical Music Products in Nashville, TN.