"BLACK SABBATH MEETS Chicago!" Ozzy Osbourne exclaims, clapping his hands with great enthusiasm after Austin band Brown Sabbath slays the Sabbath chestnut "Fairies Wear Boots" for him in person complete with conga drums and a wicked Latin brass section - at a small bar in East Austin. "There are a lot of [Black Sabbath] cover bands," Ozzy notes a minute later, on an episode of A&E's Ozzy & Jack's World Detour, "but this, by far, is such a unique way of doing it. I'm really impressed. Your playing is fuckin' great."
Recalling the moment from his Lechehouse studio on the outskirts of Austin, the band's guitarist Beto Martinez he's the one ripping the song's massive main riffs and fiery triplet-driven outro solo on a red Gibson ES-333 displays the same relaxed and humble bearing he brings to all his imaginative projects, and man, there are a lot of them. Brown Sabbath is itself an outgrowth of Beto's big-band, Brownout, which he helped form with future Black Pumas guitarist Adrian Quesada.
But even Brownout was an outgrowth of Beto's acclaimed nine-piece "Latin funk orchestra," Grupo Fantasma, which took home a Grammy for Best Latin Rock/Alternative album on behalf of their acclaimed album El Existential in 2011, and were a favorite backing band for Prince for several years. Add to that Martinez's other eclectic bands, including Money Chicha, Los Sundowns, Ocote Soul Sounds (with Quesada), his latest project, Caramelo Haze, and more, along with his production work at Lechehouse for which he's been recently nominated for an Austin Music Award and you have the makings of a new kind of Texas guitar legend.
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