Chilean singer-songwriter Patricio Acevedo’s debut album, Postales, recorded in Philadelphia in 2017, was released in physical format in the US, as well as through all virtual platforms. Alejo de los Reyes participates in two of the album’s tracks, “Cucurrucucú paloma” and “Tonada de luna llena”.

“I met Patricio in the first few days I spent in the US in 2017, when I came on tour for the first time, not knowing that I would end up living in that country. Within two days of arriving, my duo partner Shinjoo Cho (a Philadelphia resident) arranged a beautiful musician’s meeting at Ben Rieser’s Maas Building. Patricio arrived early and we chatted and rehearsed some things to play, like Lauro’s waltzes, who accompanied me on his Venezuelan cuatro. There was also Franklin Nino, a Venezuelan cellist, with whom they were preparing an acoustic version of Simón Díaz’s Tonada de luna llena. While they were going over it, and because I had the guitar in my hand, I was putting a few notes here and there, without any pretension of joining in. Patricio liked it a lot and asked me to play the same thing in the meeting with them. A few days later he called me to ask me if I would record on his album, and of course I said yes. Time passed, I went back to Philadelphia in 2018 and stopped over a few nights at his house, which I still do today when I pass through Philadelphia, which is very often. Living nearby I already became almost a stable member of his house and his band.”

Alejo de los Reyes

Patricio Acevedo, born in Chile, emigrated to the USA in the 1990s to pursue his musical studies. He still lives in that city, working as a music teacher and student orchestra conductor at the Creative Arts High School in Camden, New Jersey. Passionate about social work, he also converted his spacious house in South Philadelphia into a concert hall that went from having one performance a month to one a week and now several more times a week. Alejo de los Reyes performed in his cycle, NotSoLatin, three times, in 2018 and 2022 alongside Shinjoo Cho and this year alongside Paula Serrano.

“It’s not unusual to go visit Patricio and find that there’s a jam session at his house with twenty Temple University students playing all kinds of instruments. People from the neighborhood pass by and say hello, and even stay to chat as if they were in a small town in Buenos Aires instead of a big city. In certain concerts, generally those of Tuesdays that are more “official”, the neighbors bring food or desserts that they cooked during the afternoon, if not some wine to share. The distance between a concert and a party is often blurred”.

The album collects some of Patricio’s original songs (such as the opening track, “Paulo”, dedicated to his son) along with very bold arrangements of popular Latin American songs: the aforementioned Tonada de luna llena, with Venezuelan cuatro and cello, “Cucurrucucú, paloma” in baguala rhythm, or Violeta Parra’s “La jardinera” accompanied as a peruvian festejo. It also includes an instrumental piece by Acevedo, MSPR, for guitar and string quartet.