Gecko Turner - Gone Down South

Just as autumn arrives, Gecko Turner will be releasing his much anticipated album ‘Gone Down South’ just in time to brighten up those darkening days.

It’s been a long four years since his last release ‘Chandalismo Ilustrado’ and Gecko’s effortless style has once again delivered. Taking on board new sounds and experiences exposed to him, he’s crafted what many will feel his greatest release.

Recorded in California, Texas, London and Madrid with the help of Sunny Levine, Tim Gerron and Antonio Feola, ‘Gone Down South’ features a multitude of talent including trumpet maestro Irapoan Freire, the voice of Spanish soulman Gene García and the stunning piano of Cuban Javier "Caramelo" Masó.

Born close to the Spanish-Portuguese border, the bilingual Gecko Turner (real name Fernando Gabriel Echave Pelaez) began writing and singing in Spanish, Portuguese and English. After falling in love with the sounds of blues legends Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed, and later Jazz hero Dizzy Gillespie a teenage Pelaez picked up a guitar and began to experiment.

Released on the Lovemonk Label, ‘Gone Down South’ starts with the soulful "Truly" leading onto the Afro-Cuban tune ‘Cuanta Suerte’ then the Velvet Underground-influenced ‘So Sweet’. ‘Tea Time’ is lazy funk lit up by the rhymes of rapper Isaya Thomas, while ‘Ámame, Mímame’, ‘You Can't Own Me’ and ‘Mbira, Mbira’ have taken more than a few sips from the old African well, the latter brilliantly mixing it up with rhythms coming from Extremadura-style flamenco. ‘Holly Hollywood’, ‘The Love Monk’ and ‘When I Woke Up’ do the funk, Gecko-style, while ‘Let's Stay Tonight’ is a ballad that sounds like a Motown excursion to Jamaica. The finishing touch comes in the form of a nice little blues ditty, title track, ‘Gone Down South’.

lovemonk.net | geckoturner.com