Born close to the Spanish-Portuguese border, bilingual Gecko Turner, whose real name is Fernando Gabriel Echave Peleaz, began writing and singing in Spanish, Portuguese and English. He was just a teen when he first picked up a guitar and began to experiment. This came from his love of the sounds of blues legends Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Dizzy Gillespie.

After a long four years since the release of Chandalismo Ilustrado, Gecko Turner is back on our stereos with new sounds which have come from his latest experiences. Recorded in California, Texas, London and Madrid with the help of Sunny Levine, Tim Gerron and Antonio Feola, the new album, Gone Down South, has a multitude of different classy sounds

‘Truly’ opens this album on a bright cheery soulful note, it brings a smile to your face and sends the rhythm to your bones, what a great opener.

Ordinarily, with a great opener I would usually expect the rest of the album to slowly go downhill but this is not the case with Gone Down South. Gecko Turner knows his sounds and audience, the second track; ‘Cuantra Suerte’ is a sumptuous Afro-Cuban tune which gets the feet and hips moving.

‘So Sweet’ and 'Tea Time’ moves us in to smooth, chilled out funk whilst ‘Amame, Mimame’, ‘You Can’t Own Me’ and 'Mbira, Bira’ all have an African influenced sound, all with great beats and vibes.

‘Holly Hollywood’, ‘The Love Monk’ and ‘When I Woke Up’ have the funky blues and ‘Let’s Say Tonight’ is a slow indulgent jazzy motown track. To wrap the album up we are left with a jumpy blues track in ‘Gone Done South’, it’s a cheeky little number which just sums up the album.

All in all this is a treat for the heart and soul and anyone who is anyone will be out buying a copy of this album to add to their collection. This is an album to warm you up on those cold winter evenings, why are you still sitting here? Go and get your copy!

10

Helena Rea