We Speak Music

Brandes ‘The Distance Between Dreams’ – Echoes of the Past, Sounds of Now

Published

1 year ago

May 20, 2025

It’s not every day a former MP drops one of the most soul-stirring debut albums of the year, but Peter Bradley, now performing under the name Brandes, defies expectations at every turn.

The Distance Between Dreams, is a quiet triumph—lyrically rich, musically sparse where it needs to be, and emotionally weighty without being overwrought. It’s the kind of record that creeps up on you, then lingers.

There’s a deliberate rawness here. On “Please Don’t Call”, Brandes navigates the wreckage of a lost relationship with the weary grace of Leonard Cohen, while “Like A Dagger” pulses with an almost Nick Drake-like fragility. Meanwhile, “From The Higher Ground” injects some electricity, both sonically and ideologically, into the album’s center.

But it’s “Song for Mordecai” that elevates this project to something timeless. Blending oud, sagat, and other Middle Eastern instruments with a lyrical narrative that spans centuries, it’s an ode to the Jewish experience, but also to endurance, solidarity, and self-knowledge.

There’s no filler here—just finely-wrought songs from a man who’s seen life from every angle. Brandes isn’t here to perform; he’s here to reveal.

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We Speak Jazz

Zahili Zamora Wins Two Global Music Awards and Brings Her Afro-Cuban Jazz Quartet to Regattabar

Published

1 hour ago

November 2, 2026

We Speak Media

Zahili Zamora seated in a burgundy dress, her braided hair styled in a top bun

Zahili González Zamora. Photo by Robert Torres.

Afro Cuban jazz pianist Zahili Zamora brings her Afro Cuban Jazz Quartet to The Regattabar at The Charles Hotel in Harvard Square, Cambridge, on Friday, November 6 at 7 pm, with special guest Yosvany Terry on saxophone. The quartet features Gerson Lazo Quiroga on bass and Zack O’Farrill on drums. Tickets are $35 and $25 plus fees and are on sale now.

Zamora returns this week from a week in Seoul, Korea, where she was performing and auditioning students for Berklee. She has won two Global Music Awards for her recent album Overcoming, taking Silver Medals for Latin Jazz and Afro Cuban music and for album art and graphics. She is also nominated for the Boston Music Awards 2026 Latin Artist of the Year, with winners announced at Big Night Live on Wednesday, December 16, and WBUR has saluted her as one of its 2026 Makers, its annual series highlighting creatives of color making an impact in the local arts scene. Earlier this year she also won the InterContinental Music Award 2026 for Best of Latin America for her composition “Negra.”

The run of dates continues overseas and back in New York. The Zahili Zamora Afro Cuban Jazz Trio, with Gerson Lazo Quiroga on bass and Julien Miltenberger on drums, plays Upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London on Sunday, November 15, with shows at 2 pm and 8 pm. Zamora then plays duo sets with clarinetist Juan Fer Ruiz at So & So’s in New York on Saturday, November 28, Five Spot Jazz in New York on Sunday, November 29, Fat Swami’s Jazz Bar & Lounge in Guttenberg, New Jersey on Thursday, December 3, and The Delancey on Thursday, December 10.

About special guest Yosvany Terry, The New York Times has written that the Cuban saxophonist, percussionist and composer “has helped redefine Latin jazz as a complex new idiom.” Bassist Gerson Lazo Quiroga, a Chilean born Berklee Presidential Scholar, has performed at Carnegie Hall, SFJAZZ and the Montreal, Monterey, San Jose and Panama Jazz Festivals. Drummer Zack O’Farrill, son of pianist Arturo O’Farrill and grandson of composer Chico O’Farrill, performs regularly across the United States and the globe.