photos by Patrick Gerard
Today, prolific New York City-based trumpeter/multi-instrumentalist and orchestrater MAC GOLLEHON presents Pistoleros, the newest album from his ever-morphing entourage, MAC GOLLEHON & THE HISPANIC MECHANICS. The record is now streaming everywhere alongside a theatrical trailer featuring actor Vincent Pastore.
MAC GOLLEHON & THE HISPANIC MECHANICS’ Pistoleros boldly challenges traditional genre boundaries, asserting itself as a seminal work in the evolution of modern world fusion. This innovative album simultaneously coalesces and invokes facets of beauty, terror, love, and madness, inviting listeners to explore new musical territories. Eight original songs encompass a spirited reconstructed influence of Latin Caribbean grooves, intricate layers of cinematic jazz, broad strokes of progressive and electronica. This lamination of genres is a futuristic dialogue between traditional and contemporary, representing World music as a living and breathing entity.
Pistoleros was composed and written by MAC GOLLEHON who performs a wide array of trumpet, trombone, tuba, keys, guitar, and vocal deliveries across the album. He’s joined by percussionists Anthony Carrillo – known for his work with Batacumbele, Eddie Palmieri, Hilton Ruiz, Yambawa, Giovanni Hidalgo, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon, and many more – and Cuban ballet/dance and percussion master Elvis Ferrara, with additional drums and bass provided by Greg Meisenberg (A Fucking Elephant, Dead Register), and synth/noise/efx from David Brenner (Gridfailure, Diminishing). The album was recorded and mixed by David Maurice (Jay-Z, Psychedelic Furs, 007: Quantum Of Solace), who also co-composed “Sign It,” and completed with photos and video Modern Day Auteur.
In the filmic trailer, we see “Mac Attack,” played by GOLLEHON, recklessly betting his entire career and record contract on a hand of Blackjack with a ruthless mob boss and cast of underworld characters, each of whom has a signature theme song on the album. The boss, Vinny the “Bay Parkway Snake,” is played by Vincent Pastore – best known as Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero in HBO’s The Sopranos, as well as films including Gotti, Shark Tale, Goodfellas, Carlito’s Way, Money Train, Mickey Blue Eyes, and many others. Jazz club owner Atiba Powers appears as Atiba “Side Eye” Powers. “Killer Joe Zillionario” is played by Joe Ferraro, a character actor and New York Blues Hall of Fame frontman of the Killer Joe Band.
Watch the action unfold in MAC GOLLEHON & THE HISPANIC MECHANICS’ “Pistoleros” theatrical trailer HERE.
Pistoleros is out today through World Funk Orchestra, streaming everywhere at THIS LOCATION.
Pistoleros Track Listing:
1. Pistoleros
2. Stud Poker
3. Sign It
4. Mac Attack
5. Vinny “Bay Parkway Snake”
6. Killer Joe “Zillionario”
7. Atiba “SideEye” Powers
8. Stacked Deck
World renowned trumpet assassin MAC GOLLEHON has toured the planet and recorded with an endless roster of rock, pop, jazz, R&B, reggae, Soca, tropical salsa, and Latin jazz artists since the late seventies. Diversity and versatility were daily routine in the NYC studios with artists including David Bowie, Blondie, Onyx, Madonna, Billy Ocean, Hall & Oates, Chaka Khan, Buddy Rich, Arrow, Al Jarreau, Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, Arif Mardin, Kashif, Russ Tittelman, Arthur Baker, David Chapman, Mick Jagger, Grace Jones, Blood Ulmer, Ric Ocasek, Rod Stewart, Hector Lavoe, Mighty Sparrow, Duran Duran, Lestor Bowie, as well as high magnitude events such as Live Aid. In addition to the Herculean amount of session work, GOLLEHON has released ten critically acclaimed albums – two of them on Half Note owned by The Blue Note Club. His wide array of brass tactics has been employed on around 200 gold and platinum albums and remixes.
Lately, GOLLEHON’s exploratory and uncompromising nature led him further from the mainstream path and into the more outer realms of the audio matrix, collaborating with experimental and extreme entities, including the label Nefarious Industries, who has released two solo records and a collaborative album with Gridfailure, with whom he collaborates with regularly, both live and on record. He’s also contributed to recent albums from Today Is The Day, Chrome Waves, Altars Of The Moon, S.C.R.A.M., and others from across the extreme/experimental underground.
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