Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18

Carwyn Meurig Ellis (born 9 August 1973) is a Welsh musician, composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known as the frontman of Welsh alternative band Colorama, as a member of the Pretenders and as a long-time collaborator with Edwyn Collins. In 2014, they worked together on the soundtrack to the film The Possibilities Are Endless which won the Mojo ‘Film of the Year’ Award.Ellis has also recorded electronic music as Zarelli, releasing an album, Soft Rains in 2015 which featured the voice of Leonard Nimoy narrating the Ray Bradbury short story There Will Come Soft Rains.

In 2017 Ellis formed the Welsh folk group Bendith and their self-titled album was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize and went on to win the Welsh Language Album of the Year 2017 award at National Eisteddfod of Wales.Since 2016 Ellis has hosted a regular themed radio show on Soho Radio.In 2019, Ellis embarked on the first solo project under his own name, Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18. A collaborative project sung in Welsh and recorded mainly in Rio de Janeiro. The album, Joia! was nominated for the Welsh Music Prize. A documentary film on the making of the record, Carwyn Ellis: Ar Y Cei Yn Rio went on to win the Best Welsh language short Film award at the Wales International Documentary Festival.In 2020, Ellis releases Single Cherry Blossom Promenade and EP Ti to raise funds for personal protective equipment (PPE) for Welsh health and care workers.During lockdown in UK, Ellis released Chaos Wonderland under the Colorama project on 31 July 2020 and the follow-up to 2019’s Welsh Music Prize shortlisted Joia!, Ellis released Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18’s second album Mas on 25 February 2021.The most recent album Yn Rio by the Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 features the BBC National Orchestra of Wales was released on 22 October 2021, originally performed live and broadcast in March 2021 on BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music.

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