Javier Jara - Our Rhythms, Our Voices
‘Our Rhythms, Our Voices’ is more than an album, it’s a very personal project that honors and celebrates the Latin American community here in the United States; Jara and his team interviewed immigrants from all walks of life to create songs about their experiences, using rhythms from their native lands, resulting in a body of work that is focused on storytelling and spreading positivity and light
Austin-based, Ecuadorian singer-songwriter Javier Jara is elated to announce the upcoming release of his latest album and incredibly meaningful project, “Our Rhythms, Our Voices,” slated to drop on Friday, February 20. More than an album, “Our Rhythms, Our Voices” is a very special musical project honoring the Latin American population in the United States. Part oral history and part roots music experimentation, the project aims to celebrate the Latin American community, their diversity, cultural heritage and contributions to this country and beyond.
For the project, Jara and his team of collaborators interviewed Latin American immigrants from all walks of life to create songs, using rhythms from their native lands. Yahir Durán, an outstanding Mexican songwriter in his own right, wrote a poem from each interview, then Jara set all the poems to music and string arrangements. Interviewees from this intimate project include an Otavaleña Indigenous woman who works in IT, a former priest who fought for workers’ rights alongside Oscar Romero in El Salvador, an Argentinian chef, a Dual Language Educator from Mexico, a Guatemalan housekeeper, a Quechua repairman whose family worked in the tin mines in Potosí, Bolivia, and a Guatemalan woman, who haslived for the past five years under sanctuary of a church to escape deportation.
“I and my team of collaborators interviewed Latin Americans from all walks of life to create songs, using rhythms from the person’s homeland,” said Javier Jara. “Immigrant voyages are often so challenging, so perilous and so meaningful – they sometimes read more like a powerful piece of fiction than someone’s truth.”
The project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department and is supported by funding from the Institute for Diversity and Civic Life, made possible by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. For more information on Our Rhythms, Our Voices, see the website here. To listen to each song from the album and to read the English translation of the powerful lyrics, please see our DISCO .
The album was recorded at King Electric Studios by Justin Douglas between March and September of 2024. The lyrics for the album were written by Yahir Durán, music by Javier Jara and the photographs of each of the song’s subjects displayed on the project website were taken by Alejandro Alanis. Band members include percussionist Michael Longoria, who has toured with Patti Griffin, violinists Abigail Shiman and Camille Scheiss and Latin GRAMMY® winner Felipe “El Tiburón” Borrero, who played brass on last song of the album.
“I would describe the album as an attempt to reflect the times, as the great Nina Simone put it,” said Jara. “With this album in particular, I, as an artist, as a latin-american immigrant, become a vessel of other people’s voices and life experiences.”
Hailing from the Ecuadorian highlands, Javier Jara has been producing and performing Latin music of all genres for all kinds of audiences, both big and small, in the United States for over two decades. With a voice that is both soulful and melodic, Javier specializes in Latin folk and roots music ranging from Trova to Son Cubano to Bossa Nova and Tango. From 2016 through 2019, Javier produced more than twelve Latin ensemble concerts as an artist-in-residence at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin. Javier has two studio albums (De Una with Los Bohemios Perdidos and Canciones de Cuarentena as a Soloist). He is set to release his third studio album from the Our Rhythms, Our Voices project on February 20, 2026. He was one of six winners in the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Competition in 2022.