Ernesto Estrella (a.k.a. THE CALM) breaks with the traditional Show+Q&A format with Neighborhood of Song, a concert experience that immerses audiences in an atmosphere of intensity, intimacy, humor, and mere celebration. Every song has a community, an ecosystem of experiences, tunes, poems, rituals, and secrets that breathe inside it before and after its creation. Neighborhood of Song changes as it interacts with audiences across countries, cultures, cities, and venues. But the key musical elements of the show remain: Mississippi Blues, Andalusian Flamenco, Punk, Bossa-Nova, and the Sufi tradition.
Granadinian-New Yorker poet & musician Ernesto Estrella (a.k.a. THE CALM) specializes in the art of vocal performance across different genres –song, guided meditation, soundwalks, podcast, experimental & contemporary music. Some of his recent projects include Trío Popular, a NYC Latin-Jazz & Milonga ensemble co-founded with acclaimed pianist Leo Genovese (Esperanza Spalding, Mars Volta). His current blues endeavor Ghost of the Blues re-vamps the spirit of Hellhoundsound, the band he led in New York during the last decade. Another register of his work, the on-site immersive soundwalk For Those Arriving to New York can be experienced at the space of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum at the WTC. His Mediterranean ensemble Breathturn/Atemwende is an experimental music exploration of the Flamenco, Cretan, and Sufi tradition. In 2022, Ernesto directed the Duende Talk & Performances series at Manhattan’s Trinity Church Wall Street.