Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Adrian Quesada has been a member of Grammy-winning bands (Grupo Fantasma and Black Pumas), and is an adventurous musician as likely to be in a band dedicated to funky covers (Brownout) as to one probing the outskirts of twangling Texas psychedelia (Echocentrics); he's also an artist dedicated to preserving diverse strands of Latin music. His 2021 project Look at My Soul: The Latin Shade of Texas Soul paid tribute to obscure soul artists of the 1960s, while 2022's Boleros Psicodelicos put an update on romantic ballads of the '70s and '80s. No matter the band or the style, Quesada's guitar playing has a distinctive bite and his production work has the simplicity of roots music, but he's never afraid to take a chance. These are the qualities that have led to awards and respect from fellow artists, who line up eagerly to take part in his projects. Case in point: 2022's guest-studded instrumental hip-hop-funk album Jaguar Sound.

Quesada grew up in Laredo, Texas, loving hip-hop and picking up the guitar at age 13. After graduating high school, he moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. While there he began playing in local bands, and after graduating he started Grupo Fantasma with other musicians with Laredo roots. Their style was rooted in traditional Latin sounds such as cumbia, but it's given a funky, modern update. The group quickly established themselves as regional favorites, and received a boost when Prince caught a show and invited them to play with him in Las Vegas and tour with him. The band released many albums throughout the 2000s, and 2010's El Existential won a Grammy in the Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album category. During that timespan, Quesada and other bandmembers formed Brownout, a looser, a funkier group dedicated to covers and having fun. They issued numerous albums, including tributes to Black Sabbath (2014's Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath) and Public Enemy (2018's Fear of a Brown Planet). Quesada also found time to play in the space jazz group Ocote Soul Sounds and the psychedelic rock band Echocentrics.

After his 2013 exit from Grupo Fantasma, Quesada had the idea to form a project dedicated to updating vintage soul, and in 2017 launched Black Pumas with singer Eric Burton. Their self-titled 2019 album earned Quesada another Grammy nomination, as did the 2020 record Capitol Cuts: Live from Studio A. Along with running his Electric Deluxe Recorders studio and working with young talent from a wide range of styles, including his first love of hip-hop, Quesada recorded a tribute to Latin soul music of the '60s. Titled Look at My Soul: The Latin Shade of Texas Soul, the album featured vocalists like David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Tomar Williams, and Ruben Ramos tackling meticulously crafted re-creations of the sound. In a similar vein, Quesada's 2022 record Boleros Psicodelicos featured the guitarist and producer working to recapture the sound and feel of the romantic baladas of the '70s and '80s. Collaborating with a host of talented singers and musicians ranging from Girl Ultra and Rudy De Anda to Gaby Moreno and iLe of Calle 13, Quesada honored the past and brought the style to a new generation of listeners. The album's release was followed by performances on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, at the Austin City Limits Festival, and most impressively, at a Kennedy Center tribute to Latin music and culture. The end of the year saw Quesada returning to his hip-hop roots with Jaguar Sound, a record inspired by bike rides taken at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Cruising the Austin city streets while listening to hip-hop, the Alchemist in particular, he got the ideas for beats, which he then turned into full-blown psychedelic funk tracks with the help of members of Ikere Shakedown, keyboardist Josh Garza, harpist Mary Lattimore, and a host of others who provided strings and horns. The album was issued by Anti- in November 2022. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi