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Layers Behind The Curtain with Geneva Harrison (Nu Deco Ensemble, Y La Bamba, Rachel Goodrich)
Metadata
- title
- Layers Behind The Curtain with Geneva Harrison (Nu Deco Ensemble, Y La Bamba, Rachel Goodrich)
- description
- Whether she’s touring with Y La Bamba or scoring live stories for WNYC’s Snap Judgment, Geneva Harrison is the kind of artist who breathes life into her work. She’s a world-class percussionist and producer, and a total student of how music connects. I loved her takes on the "elasticity" of rhythm. It’s steady and unsteady. Like a heartbeat. Human and tied to the environment. The culture.
- status
- complete
- date
- 2026-02-03
- kind
- guest
- guestSlugs
- geneva-harrison
- listenUrl
- https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/Layers-Behind-The-Curtain-with-Geneva-Harrison-Nu-Deco-Ensemble--Y-La-Bamba--Rachel-Goodrich-e3egsos
- lmwUrl
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5njhwXvh45w
- appleUrl
- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/layers-behind-the-curtain-with-geneva-harrison-nu/id1567355195?i=1000747831244&uo=4
- spotifyUrl
- https://open.spotify.com/episode/4N1EPFMJTSrQLKwVF5j0JP
- youtubeUrl
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfqNBQYfxbk
- topicsDiscussed
- Drums
- Mixing
- Music production
- Touring
- Singing and vocals
- Songwriting
- Brazilian rhythm and samba
- Elasticity of rhythm
- Music and movement
- Joy as resistance in Brazilian music
- hostNote
- **Geneva Harrison** is a percussionist and producer who's toured with **Y La Bamba**, scored live stories for WNYC's *Snap Judgment*, and plays with **Nu Deco Ensemble** and **Rachel Goodrich**. We trace her connection to Brazilian rhythm back to samba's own origins: born out of resistance, out of enslaved people finding a place to express themselves, and Geneva calls playing it a way of having a conversation with ancestors, with your own history and place. From there we get into the **elasticity of rhythm** she describes: steady and unsteady at the same time, human, tied to the environment and the culture around it, like a heartbeat. She also thinks groove complexity in supposedly simple rhythms is underappreciated. The back half turns technical: how drummers and vocalists communicate live, the work of transcribing a vocal melody into percussion, and how one mix decision can be the difference between a song working and not.
- selectedMoments
- label
- Geneva on Brazilian music
- startSec
- 131
- note
- Geneva details her early exposure to Brazilian rhythms and their cultural significance.
- label
- Emotional connection to rhythms
- startSec
- 289
- note
- She speaks on the dreamlike quality of Brazilian music that connects deeply with emotions.
- label
- Samba's origins
- startSec
- 367
- note
- Geneva explains samba as a music born from resistance and joy.
- label
- Rhythm's elasticity
- startSec
- 554
- note
- They discuss how traditional rhythms can be both rigid and flexible.
- label
- Live performance instincts
- startSec
- 965
- note
- Geneva reflects on the communication between drummers and vocalists in creating dynamic performances.
- label
- Transcribing vocal rhythms
- startSec
- 1364
- note
- She highlights the challenge and artistry of translating vocal melodies into percussion.
- label
- Music's role in movement
- startSec
- 2118
- note
- Geneva emphasizes the importance of rhythm in facilitating physical expression through dance.
- excerptQuotes
- text
- I really love that not just as someone who is a practitioner of music, but the core of it was from listening to music. I love that music puts me in a place where I can dream.
- startSec
- 3173
- reviewed
- true
- text
- Samba is kind of at the root of so much Brazilian music... it is a kind of music that came out of resistance to union powers. Essentially, it was born out of slaves escaping their plantations and finding a home where they could... express themselves musically.
- startSec
- 368
- reviewed
- true
- text
- I think that's such a beautiful interesting thing of like you get to have kind of a conversation with ancestors with your history with your place.
- startSec
- 459
- reviewed
- true
- text
- I think the mix really can change every... whether a song is good or not in some ways.
- startSec
- 1874
- reviewed
- true
- text
- Music is such a great channel for all of that... I think it can really help you.
- startSec
- 890
- reviewed
- true
- text
- I think there’s so much room for what that means that doesn't need to be bound so tightly to like perfect... it really depends on what the music is right?
- startSec
- 1045
- reviewed
- true
- text
- I think that groove complexity even for the so-called simple rhythms is just underappreciated maybe in the popular sense.
- startSec
- 1689
- reviewed
- true
- faq
- question
- What are Geneva Harrison's influences in music?
- answer
- Geneva credits her exposure to jazz, Latin, and Brazilian music from a young age, deeply influencing her rhythmic style and creativity.
- question
- How does Geneva Harrison define the elasticity of rhythm?
- answer
- Geneva explains that elasticity in rhythm allows for a more organic and expressive performance, as opposed to strict adherence to a metronome.
- question
- What role does percussion play in live performances according to Geneva?
- answer
- She believes percussion can significantly elevate the energy in live performances, creating a deeper connection with the audience.
- transcriptPublished
- false
- draft
- false
Content
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