Haf

Haf is the third album from Carwyn Ellis and Rio 18 in little over a year, no mean feat in
and of itself but especially considering Carwyn’s work with other artists (including
Edwyn Collins and the North Mississippi Allstars) this year too. The album picks up where their last (Fontana Rosa) left off, with around half the album being recorded analog to tape at Gizzard Studios in London, with one last tune remaining from their sessions at the legendary (but now closed) Toerag Studios.

There are echoes here of their first album, Joia! - the recordings were once again
instigated by the great Brazilian producer and multi-instrumentalist who happened
to be visiting London earlier in the year. He suggested doing something.... so they
did. And there is a return to more definite Brazilian influences too - Tonnau Ar
Tonnau is an homage to ‘Onda’ by Cassiano, Keep On Smiling has a distinct samba /
chorro feel. Gwenyn y Gwanwyn (about helping a bee out if you see it struggling) is
very much a nod to the psychedelic samba funk of Antonio Carlos e Jocafi. But other
Latin styles still loom large: on the sultry salsa of Bella Estrella or the melancholic
Andean ballad, Lagrimas Frias.

Anglo-Brazilian singer Nina Miranda features on the Lalo Schifrin goes samba Shades
of Red, while new addition to the Rio 18 family (at least on record), Miriam Isaac
adds a real RnB edge to the record, along with some beautiful duets: the Salsoul
banger Como Te Amo and the gorgeous Whistling Sands (about a beach in North
Wales) are standouts.

In reverse to how Carwyn made the first two Rio 18 albums, Haf was recorded in
London and Wales and mixed over five hectic days in Rio. Three days later, it was
mastered and at the pressing plant. Time doesn’t wait for Carwyn Ellis and Rio 18!!
Finally, the song ‘Haf’ and the album itself are dedicated to Haf Morris, Carwyn’s late
music teacher - he says, “her focus, guidance and patience shaped me like no other. I
hope she’s enjoyed my musical journey, from wherever she’s watching. Diolch, Haf”.