Ariella are Terrified by love in the soulful jazz duo’s latest single and video — premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
With a fervor for blues, jazz and vintage soul, enigmatic Florida duo Ariella passionately transcend boundaries, transporting listeners to the heart of what makes music timeless. Ariella features the elegant vocals of the charismatic Ariella McManus. A singer with emotional depth and a songwriter rich with breadth, she eloquently combines stunning melodies with infectious grooves to create a catchy, immersive sound. Teamed with guitar maestro Nicolaas Kraster, a talented wunderkind from New York who has been compared to Ottmar Liebert, Paco de Lucía and Pat Metheny, the pair effortlessly craft an engaging path to the spiritual promised land.
Flush with poetic imagery and musical intimacy, Ariella’s recent releases Joy and Terrified are a great example of their sonic vision, one with increasing definition of the human condition. As she matter of factly emotes on Joy, “I don’t need you to make me complete. If I don’t make life better, it’s time for me to leave,” Ariella capture pain and hope with each passing note, earning apt comparisons to the transcendent fragility of Etta James, Patsy Cline and Amy Winehouse.
Bolstered by growing acclaim, the group caught the ear of Internationally renown bassist/educator Victor Wooten (Béla Fleck and the Flecktones), who recognized their intangible chemistry, “Ariella is one of my all-time favorite bands. I love their music and their live performances. There’s no way to not enjoy them.” It’s a palpable reciprocity. On their exhilarating 2019 EP, Live at the Hideaway Café, recorded during a St. Pete heatwave, the blistering set finds the pair excavating the essence of the classics, while delivering a cascading storm of substance and sustenance, bringing to mind a late-night soiree where Antônio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto trade stories with Buena Vista Social Club.
Continuing to refine their sound, the pair enlisted award-winning engineer, Fabrice Dupont (aka Fabulous Fab), known for his work with Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopez, Andre 3000 Shakira, Les Nubians, Bebel Gilberto and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to add his deft touch to the new material. Dupont effused, “Ariella has the very rare ability to deliver pure emotion every time she sings. She’s a classic voice for our modern times.”
Both as a duo, and with their larger Latin-infused ensemble, Ari and the Alibis, Nic and Ariella play to packed rooms in Tampa, Sarasota, and throughout Central Florida, while also touring in Canada, the U.K. and across the U.S., including a recent debut at N.Y.C.’s infamous Blue Note night club. To celebrate the release of Terrified, Ariella will broadcast a special pre-recorded show in conjunction with Rockwood Music Hall in N.Y.C., Point Entertainment in Philly, The Ninth Ward at Babeville Theater in Buffalo and Jammin’ Java in Virginia and the D.C. area. The shows will be simulcast via Veeps, a new ticketing platform developed by Joel and Benji Madden, brethren of pop-punk band Good Charlotte. Tickets for the Oct. 1 livestream are on sale at the venue sites and HERE.
Watch Terrified and Joy above, hear more from Ariella below, and keep up with them via their website, Facebook and Instagram.
