#gauchomusic

UCSB Music Grad Student Angela Miller plays her haunting original piece "Ghost Lullaby." Music Department faculty member Natasha Kislenko accompanies on the piano.

This time on Amplified, UCSB senior David Nakazono takes us back to the intensely emotional Romantic Era with the quintessentially Spanish "Playera," by violinist Pablo de Sarasate. David, a physics major, works in UCSB Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Jon Schuller's lab. He is accompanied on acoustic guitar by SBCC student Jake Richardson.

Animal Liberation Orchestra front man, longtime Jack Johnson collaborator and UCSB Alum Zach Gill kicks off the fifth season of UCSB Amplified with his original song "Watch Em Grow." Written for his daughters, (when they are older) Zach combines "easy going pop with a large dose of buoyant soul."

It's Egypt in the mid 20th century. Imagine a famous and prolific composer, a legendary bellydancer, a steamy love affair that ensues on- and off-camera, and you have "Ya Zahratan fi Khayali (O Flower of My Imagination)" a tango composed by the virtuosic Farid Al-Atrash (1910-1974) for the 1947 film "Habib al-'Amr (Love of my Life)," starring Al-Atrash and the renowned dancer Samia Gamal. Music Department guest soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and the UCSB Middle East Ensemble, directed by Dr. Scott Marcus, bring back the sweetness and the yearning in this week's edition of UCSB Amplified.

With loops, live mixing and impeccable timing, Australian study abroad student and chanteuse Alex Siegers shows us her electronic and jazz chops with a rendition of Cyrille Aimee's Nuit Blanche. Oh la-la!

Visiting Latin American history professor Leon Garcia performs his original Spanish Guitar song "Balam." Leon wrote this song on the day of his sons birth and performs it in the new UCSB Library.

Freshman Genesis Codina, and visiting history Professor Leon Garcia team up to produce a one of a kind sound. Drawing inspiration from Mariachi as well as classical Spanish guitar, Leon and Genesis are UCSB Amplified's first act to perform in the recently reopened UCSB library.

Season Three of UCSB Amplified kicks off with freshman singer songwriter Ella Kilroy covering No Doubt's "Underneath It All." This Denver native began singing and playing when she was 11 years old and has not looked back since.