“She was the icing on the cake,” says Ady Harley of Lupita Infante, who rounded out an impressive roster of regional Mexican musicians in July with El Fantasma and Los Dos Carnales at Centro Cultural Roberto Cantoral in Mexico City. “She bridges the generational and gender gap,” continues Harley, head of music label partnerships for Meta in Latin America and the United States. “Regional Mexican has often been a misunderstood genre, so I’m very proud of this concert and that the [Latin Grammys] is able to use its platform to embrace new genres, especially those popular with younger generations.
Mission accomplished, and more. The three acts are part of a Latin Grammys-led performance initiative called The Acoustic Sessions that began six years ago and this year has been expanded with its partnership with Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
After the performances, the Latin Grammys Facebook page hosts the video of the performances for 48 hours before moving on to the artist pages. The artists and their teams are thrilled to have the opportunity to reach a massive global audience with high-level production, the ability to choose song interpretations, unreleased collaborations, duets and stories.
“It is an honor for me to have the chance to perform in this first-ever acoustic session focused on Mexican regional music, and to bring my culture and the musical traditions of my country to a global audience,” said El Fantasma (aka Alexander García). in a report. “The Latin Academy represents so much – respect, excellence, and the continued preservation and advancement of Latin music – and it’s an experience I will never forget.”
Neither does its global digital audience. Subsequent performances include one in Sao Paulo in mid-October with a new generation of Brazilian artists featuring Latin Grammy nominees Giulia Be and Luísa Sonza, as well as Manu Gavassi and Agnes Nunes, all of whom performed classic songs from the legendary Rita Lee. Formerly of Os Mutantes, the beloved psych-rock band that originated during the influential Tropicalia movement, Lee will be honored at this year’s Latin Grammy Awards on Nov. 17 with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Acoustic Sessions moved to Madrid’s Las Ventas, a historic bullring, on October 27 with Best New Artist nominee Pol Granch as well as performances by Novelda’s Becky G and Daviles, which have yet to be released.
“Through our Latin GRAMMY acoustic sessions,” said Manuel Abud, CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, “we aim to foster inclusive spaces where music makers can showcase their art, inspiring cultural appreciation, promotion and preservation of their respective genres”.
As long as these goals have been achieved, anyone, anywhere can watch these performances on Facebook. Meta’s Harley says he likes to adopt an interesting way of participating in acoustic sessions. “My favorite way is to watch them on Meta Quest 2,” he says. “Any music video can be watched through the Meta Quest TV app. It’s a 2D video experience but it’s quite immersive since you can’t be distracted by phones or messages!”
As for what lies ahead, Harley is excited about the future partnership. “The myriad of musical genres and rhythms in Spanish and Portuguese are endless and will continue to reinvent themselves in interesting and unexpected ways in the decades to come. As a company focused on building community and connecting the world, I look forward to future collaborations with the Latin Recording Academy to celebrate music.
