Album Notes

Ala Zingara celebrates their contrarian ethno pop sound with third release, “Murder of Crows.”

Olives and Garlic? Alice and Carlos? Ala Ginzara? Those are just a few of the creative interpretations people have come up with when trying to understand Parks and Dignan pronounce the name at a live show. But this exemplifies the Seattle quartet. Celtic rock? Eastern European punk? Brazilian bossa? Alt country? Yes…Ala Zingara, or the literal translation, “in a gypsy style.”

Their third album, “Murder of Crows,” is a collection of well crafted songs that follows this philosophy. For example, the hard hitting world prog-rock title track, “Murder of Crows,” is followed by the beautiful Jobim soaked bossa, “Seu Ser.” However, it doesn’t stop there. This philosophy is reflected in every aspect of the group. The quartet’s members are in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s, the lead vocals are split between Robert Parks and Brennan Dignan while being backed up by the dynamic female vocals of Megan Larson, their instrumentation is part electric part acoustic part traditional part non-traditional, the few covers they do perform range from Johnny Cash to a Macedonian traditional, and their name sticks in your head like a well oiled body sticks to a tarp. Basically everything a person is told to do in rock band 101, Ala Zingara has done the contrary. Somehow these liabilities transform into their assets when they take the stage and is what has endeared them to music lovers all over the Pacific Northwest.