Ethan Margolis — known artistically as Emaginario — returns with Flamenco Drums, a galactically charged avant-garde jazz single arriving December 5, 2025 on Unifying Sounds. Following his recent collaboration with legendary pianist Chano Domínguez, Margolis now ventures into a daring new space, crafting a piece that fuses flamenco spirit, post-bop fire, and adventurous rhythmic architecture.
The track features a powerhouse ensemble: Margolis on vocals, Larry Grenadier on bass, Gary Novak on drums, Nick Mancini on vibraphone, and Roma percussionist Manuel Valencia contributing dynamic palmas and jaleos. As the label’s second release — and a striking contrast to Domínguez’s more traditional debut offering — Flamenco Drums signals Unifying Sounds’ intent to explore a wide expanse of musical expression.
Built around a meticulously composed drum part, the piece pays homage to the lineage of jazz drumming greats: Elvin Jones, Kenny Clarke, Tony Williams, and Art Blakey. Margolis wrote the entire percussion blueprint bar-by-bar, entrusting its interpretation to the formidable Gary Novak, whose career has included collaborations with Chick Corea, George Benson, and Allan Holdsworth.
For Margolis, the single has been a long time coming. “This is something I’ve wanted to write and record for more than a decade,” he says, citing the deep influence of Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Lenny Breau, and John Coltrane’s own journeys through Spanish themes. After 25 years immersed in Andalusian culture and friendships with Roma families, Margolis sought to articulate his personal bridge between jazz and flamenco. “In this composition, the drums lead the charge. Everything else supports what the drums are saying,” he explains — mirroring rhythmic traditions in flamenco, Indian, and African music where percussion lays the foundation for improvisation.
The result is bold, boundary-smashing, and confidently situated in the realm of “beyond-genre modern jazz.” Grenadier’s resonant bass, Mancini’s shimmering vibraphone, Novak’s explosive rhythmic drive, and Valencia’s spirited palmas create a vivid, pulsing world around Margolis’s vocal narrative.
The accompanying official music video amplifies the piece’s tension between tradition and modernity. Filmed in an Andalusian wine bodega at Bodegas González-Palacios in Lebrija — with additional footage at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — the visuals juxtapose rough-hewn wood and historic ambiance against sleek futurist architecture. Margolis appears among his Roma-Gitano collaborators — Manuel Vargas (dance), Fernanda Peña (rhythm), and Gonzalo Peña (rhythm) — creating a cinematic tableau with shades of Tarantino’s flamboyant intensity. Shot by Nané S. Moreno in Lebrija and by Margolis in Bilbao, and edited by LA filmmaker Jeff Katz, the video stands as a work of art in its own right, underscoring the idea that powerful creativity transcends category.
Flamenco Drums is both a tribute and a leap forward — a rhythmic manifesto linking jazz’s rebellious heart to the spirit of flamenco and the wider global imagination.
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