Tag: Jorge Drexler

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Featured New Broadcast News

ACL announces first half of Season 49 broadcast schedule

Rodrigo y Gabriela with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.

Venerable television music series Austin City Limits (ACL) announces the fall return of the program and the initial Season 49 broadcast line-up with seven all-new installments to begin airing October 7 at 7pm CT/8pm ET as part of the broadcast’s fourteen episode season. ACL brings fans a new season, packed with a stellar slate of ACL legends and highly-anticipated debuts from some of today’s most talked-about live acts. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast. 

The program, recorded live at ACL’s studio home ACL Live in Austin, Texas, continues its extraordinary run as the longest-running music television show in history, providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for 49 years as the music institution nears a remarkable half-century milestone. Austin City Limits celebrates 50 years as a live music beacon in 2024: on October 17, 1974, Willie Nelson taped the pilot episode and the trailblazing series premiered in 1975. Stay tuned for news on special concerts, fan events and activations as Austin City Limits salutes an incredible legacy of 50 golden years of American musical history and iconic performances. 

Austin City Limits returns this fall with a singular highlight as the season opener: Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso duo Rodrigo y Gabriela joined by the Austin Symphony Orchestra. The Mexico City natives are joined by an ensemble of over 30 musicians from the esteemed Austin Symphony Orchestra in an exhilarating hour; the unprecedented performance marks the first time ACL has collaborated with the world class orchestra, one of Austin’s leading arts institutions.

A season highlight is the return of Foo Fighters for their third appearance. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers previously rocked the ACL stage twice before, with unforgettable performances in 2009 (in ACL’s original Studio 6A) and 2015. ACL saluted the rock superstars’ 25th Anniversary in 2021 with a fan-favorite hourlong special featuring beloved classics from both appearances, now one of the most requested episodes in the ACL archives. ACL is thrilled to feature the iconic band back on the ACL stage in an epic new hour.

The new season continues with a number of highly-anticipated appearances from a diverse slate of artists. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis returns for the first time in nearly a decade, making her third appearance on the iconic ACL stage with highlights from her latest album Joy’All alongside career favorites; sharing the hour is breakout indie-pop band MUNA in a thrilling debut. ACL spotlights a pair of innovators making ACL debuts in a captivating double-bill: rap star Lil Yachty showcases his genre-bending album Let’s Start Here joined by special guests; violin savant and singer-songwriter Sudan Archives performs songs from her Natural Brown Prom Queen. Two American originals are paired in a revelatory new hour: country standout Margo Price returns for her second headlining appearance with her latest album Strays as the centerpiece; and next-generation bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway dazzle in their first ACL appearance with gems from their 2023 Grammy-winning Best Bluegrass Album Crooked Tree and latest City of Gold. Global music powerhouse Jorge Drexler, who swept the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards with a record seven awards, makes his first appearance on the ACL stage with a sparkling hour of lush soundscapes and irresistible Spanish-language songs from his landmark Tinta y Tiempo. Celebrated singer-songwriter and four-time Grammy winner Jason Isbell and his band the 400 Unit, who made their initial debut a decade ago in Season 39, return for their third headlining appearance in a highly-anticipated hour featuring fan-favorites and new gems from his recent Weathervanes. 

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the most diverse mix of music and talent ACL has ever presented in a new season – and it’s only the beginning!’ says longtime ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “We strive to live up to the axiom that ‘anything goes’ on ACL as long as it’s authentic, original or groundbreaking – or all three! There’s so much great music being made today from all genres and all corners of the world, and we try to showcase it all.”

Season 49 Broadcast Line-up (second half of season to be announced separately)

Oct. 7 Rodrigo y Gabriela featuring the Austin Symphony Orchestra

Oct. 14 Jenny Lewis / MUNA

Oct. 21 Lil Yachty / Sudan Archives

Oct. 28 Margo Price / Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Nov. 4 Jorge Drexler

Nov. 11 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Nov. 18 Foo Fighters

Watch new episodes live, stream online, or download the PBS App. The complete line-up for the full 14-week season, including seven new episodes to air beginning January 2023, will be announced at a later date.  Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding live streams, future tapings and episode schedules or by following ACL on Facebook, Twitter, IG and TikTok. Fans can also browse the ACL YouTube channel for exclusive songs, behind-the-scenes videos and full-length artist interviews.

Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits (ACL) offers viewers unparalleled access to featured acts in an intimate setting that provides a platform for artists to deliver inspired, memorable, full-length performances. Now in its 49th Season, the program is taped live before a concert audience from The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Austin City Limits is the longest-running music series in television history and remains the only TV series to ever be awarded the National Medal of Arts. Since its inception, the groundbreaking music series has become an institution that’s helped secure Austin’s reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. The historic Austin PBS Studio 6A, home to 36 years of ACL concerts, has been designated an official Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark. In 2011, ACL moved to the new venue ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ACL received a rare institutional Peabody Award for excellence and outstanding achievement in 2012.  

Austin City Limits is produced by Austin PBS and funding is provided in part by Dell Technologies, the Austin Convention Center Department, Cirrus Logic and AXS Ticketing. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.

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Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Jorge Drexler

Jorge Drexler performs on Austin City Limits, July 31, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

A giant in the world of Latin music, celebrated singer/songwriter Jorge Drexler arrived at Austin City Limits bearing his most successful album yet, the seven-time Latin Grammy winning Tinta y Tiempo. We’re always excited to showcase South American and Spanish sounds on our stage, and the Uruguayan-born/Spain-based Drexler did not disappoint, incorporating a pantheon of global sounds into not only his first taping but his first-ever show in Austin, one that we live streamed around the world to his legions of fans.

Following a pre-recorded intro from Drexler’s own cousin, whose thoughts inspired the award-winning Tinta y Tiempo, the charismatic, white-suited bandleader and his half-dozen strong band opened with the groovy pop number “El Plan Maestro,” also the opening cut on Tinta y Tiempo. Drexler followed up with the slinky “Deseo,” noting that he and the band had spent the previous evening learning to two-step at famed Austin honky-tonk the White Horse. The musicians got even friskier on “Transporte,” a song that surely fills up dancefloors everywhere. “I wish you all to be beginners,” Drexler remarked before the sleep? pop tune “Cinturón Blanco,” a nod to the white belt in martial arts – i.e. the beginner’s rank. 

The gregarious Drexler introduced “Universos Paralelos” to cheers, explaining its concept about expressing yourself in both conscious and subconscious ways. The foot mover also served to showcase his ace backup singers Alana Sinkëy and Miryam Latrece. “Telefonía” zeroed in on an even tighter pop melody while keeping the rhythm infectious. That led into one of the set’s tour de forces: the remarkable “¡Oh, Algoritmo!” Accompanied only by grooving guitarist Javier Calequi, Drexler both sang and rapped irony-saturated lyrics about the conflict between what we want and what we’re sold by algorithms and A.I. – joined by the eager audience. The maestro then introduced his band before letting drummer Borja Barrueta and percussionist Gala Celia preface the sparse, atmospheric “Tinta y Tiempo” with a percussion duet. With his band taking a break, Drexler performed the next song a capella. Of course, that song was the Oscar-winning song “Al Otro Lado Del Rio” from the film The Motorcycle Diaries  – a song he performed for the movie.. His improvised unaccompanied version as he accepted his award inspired the version he sang tonight, with the audience accompanying him on the soaring chorus. Donning his guitar but still onstage alone, Drexler played “La Milonga Del Moro Judio” – “The Milonga of the Jewish Moor” – a folkish nod to his own Arabic and Jewish heritage and a commentary on the continuing conflict in the Middle East that, like so many of his other tunes, found the crowd singing along. 

Following the basic sonics of “La Milonga,” Drexler vaulted into the twenty-first century, strumming his guitar with accompaniment from the band directly behind him on electronic beats and chords. Starting with the vocoder-enhanced “La Edad Del Cielo,” he went directly into the half-spoken/half sung “Guitarra y Vos,” yet another crowd singalong. The people joined the band in the rhythms, providing clapping percussion for the final electronic number, the sensual “Tocarte.” A distinctive and rewarding mini-set. 

As the musicians retook their normal instruments, Drexler told the story of his German-born Jewish father fleeing Germany in 1939 to Bolivia, the only country in the Americas that would issue him a visa. That led, of course, to “Bolivia,” a dub-frosted, minor-key groover that induced claps in the audience and a delighted grin on Drexler’s face. Noting that it had been “a beautiful night,” the songwriter ended the main set with “Sea,” one of his early-career tunes and, from the audience’s reaction, one of his most beloved. 

Of course, that wasn’t the end – Drexler had already told the crowd to call the band back for more music, and barely left the stage before coming right back on. He kicked off a three-song encore with the epic, energy-spewing medley of “Bailar En La Cueva” and “Moviemiento.” Drexler ended the night with the jaunty, irresistible “Todo Se Transforma,” transforming eighteenth century chemistry into a twenty-first century pop song. With big smiles, the musicians took a bow to huge cheers from the audience. Drexler gave us a history-making show that everyone can see this fall on your local PBS station as part of our Season 49.

Jorge Drexler and band on Austin City Limits, 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.

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Featured Live Stream News

Live stream: Jorge Drexler

Austin City Limits is thrilled to announce that we will be live streaming our upcoming Season 49 taping with global music powerhouse Jorge Drexler in his ACL debut on July 31 at 8pm CT. The celebrated superstar swept the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards with a record seven awards, including top honors of Record of the Year and Song of the Year. ACL offers fans worldwide the unique opportunity to watch this taping live in its entirety free here on our ACLTV YouTube Channel. 

Jorge Drexler is an Uruguayan musician and singer-songwriter with a storied professional career—over the course of three decades, he has recorded fourteen studio albums and has toured all over the world. The widely-acclaimed and decorated artist is the recipient of an Academy Award (2004) and thirteen Latin Grammys (2014, 2018, 2021, 2022). In 2022 Drexler released the acclaimed Tinta y Tiempo (Ink and Time), his fourteenth studio album, earning an astonishing seven awards at 2022’s Latin Grammy Awards, including top honors of Song of the Year and Record of the Year for the album’s breakout single “Tocarte” (To Touch You). 

The sweeping and cinematic Tinta y Tiempo focuses on nature’s invention of love as a survival mechanism. “It was the thematic vector that informs the entire record, the kind of discourse that comes up when you emerge from a pandemic,” says Drexler. “Dealing with fear and the possibility of death makes you ponder the importance of life. Love as driving energy, life’s dynamo. This is why I believe the album is filled with color.” Anchored on his trademark poetic cosmovision and quirky wordplay, the collection is boosted by exquisite orchestral arrangements. Guest artists including Panamanian songwriter Rubén Blades, Spanish rapper C. Tangana, Israeli rapper/singer Noga Erez and Uruguayan singer Martín Buscaglia add color to a sophisticated songbook that finds Drexler’s voice—a wondrous instrument, capable of evoking vulnerability, hope and wistfulness within a single verse—in a state of grace. 

Rolling Stone calls the album “One of the most whimsical and free-spirited albums of his 30-year career.” The New York Times remarks that “Tinta y Tiempo is Drexler’s 14th studio album in a recording career filled with richly poetic, ingeniously constructed songs, delivered with amiable understatement.” This is an album of classic elegance and, at the same time, the overall sound vibrates in a very contemporary frequency, combining elements of candombe, pop, bossa nova, flamenco, bolero, Carioca funk, hip hop, trap, zamba, soul, Panamanian mejorana, or baguala, filtered through the sound of the orchestra, samples, percussive textures, female vocals, bass, drums, electric guitar and keyboards.  

The conceptual song cycle of Tinta y Tiempo sums up Drexler’s lush take on popular song, its ability to uplift and enlighten. “We have just emerged from a very difficult experience [the pandemic],” he adds. “Our capacity to love and our zest for life have been tested. The act of loving involves a certain sense of confusion, of losing control, and there’s nothing wrong with that. We should not lock ourselves in a world fueled by fear and self-oppression. We must keep our hearts thirsty for more, much more – against all odds.” 

Join us here on July 31 at 8 p.m. CT for Jorge Drexler; the broadcast episode will air on PBS this fall as part of our upcoming Season 49. Tune in to your local PBS station on Saturday nights for fan-favorite encore episodes of Austin City Limits; watch live on PBS, or stream anytime at PBS.org.