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Nella
Nella has quickly skyrocketed to international renown, fueled by her powerhouse voice and undeniable presence. In a short time, the Venezuelan-born vocalist went from Berklee College of Music graduate to winner of the 2019 Latin GRAMMY Award for Best New Artist. That same year, her full-length debut, Voy (I Go), written and produced by Spanish producer and songwriter Javier Limón for Casa Limón Records, received acclaim from NPR and yielded the hit song “Me Llaman Nella (They Call Me Nella),” which surpassed 1.4 million Spotify streams and 1.4 million views on YouTube. The title track from the album was included at #14 on The New York Times’ “54 Best Songs of 2019” list, where it was described as “a lean, lilting song about picking up and moving into the unknown.”
In 2018, Nella was featured in Academy Award-winning director Asghar Farhadi’s film Everybody Knows, starring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, in which she performed Limón’s song “Se Muere Por Volver” and other tracks written exclusively for the movie.
Nella’s second album, Doce Margaritas (Twelve Daisies), was released in 2021. The album earned three Latin GRAMMY nominations.
Javier Limón
Javier Limón began his career as a composer, working with various flamenco artists. Raised in Spain, he traveled to New York City at an early age to train in American arts schools, where he was discovered for his potent lyricism and composition.
Employed by powerhouses of the flamenco world such as Enrique Morente and Remedios Amaya, Limón has proven that he has the ability to weave fairy tales with his unique twists on the genre. In 2004, Limón was awarded the Latin GRAMMY for Producer of the Year for his work on five records: Lágrimas Negras by Diego el Cigala and Bebo Valdés; Cositas Buenas by Paco de Lucía; El Cantante by Andrés Calamaro; El Pequeño Reloj by Enrique Morente; Niño Josele by Niño Josele; and Tributo Flamenco a Don Juan Valderrama by various artists. In 2009, Limón won a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for recording Juntos Para Siempre, a series of father-and-son piano duets by Bebo and Chucho Valdés.
Limón’s record label and production company, Casa Limón, features a roster that includes artists such as Paco de Lucía, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Caetano Veloso, Alicia Keys, and Anoushka Shankar, among many others.
Gilad Barakan
Gilad Barakan has established himself as a prominent figure within a new generation of guitar players. At age twenty, shortly after moving to LA from Jerusalem, he attended Musicians Institute and won the prestigious “Outstanding Player Award” (awarded once a year to one musician by the renowned jazz and blues guitarist Scott Henderson). The same year, he also won second place at the Stanley Clarke competition.
While studying at Berklee College of Music, Barakan met Spanish producer Javier Limón and has since worked on a number of Casa Limón albums, most recently on Nella’s debut album Voy (I Go). Barakan serves as Nella’s musical director, plays guitar on her albums, and often arranges Limón’s music for her.
Barakan and Turkish singer Elif Sanchez (together with Paul Sanchez) co-produced her debut self-titled album, released in 2021.
