canciones del amor
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Artist:
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Album:Mi Sueño
I'm listening to the new (final/posthumous) Ibrahim Ferrer recording, Mi Sueño (my dream), which is dreamy indeed. Romantic ballads, including Perfidia and Quizas, some of which were demos that were enhanced/arranged after Ferrer's passing. I realized (see previous mogs on "Coltrane/Hartman":http://mog.com/deedee/blog_post/34512 and on "Last of the Breed":http://mog.com/deedee/blog_post/58211) that I'm drawn to (and knocked out by) performances that exude an ease, an effortless nonchalance that only the gifted can really carry off, particularly when you just feel their joy (and the sadness, and the sensuality) in the performance. Also, there's this: I love listening to Spanish singers. My dad was bilingual, and though he didn't speak Spanish much with us kids, the language was just around us, when he was on the phone, say, or speaking with his parents. He had a small collection of Spanish-language albums, including singers like Luis Miguel and (please, this was before he became an unctuous crossover joke) Julio Iglesias. So I have a soft spot for Spanish accents (Julio's Castilian is lovely) and Spanish music affects me in a way I can't completely explain, mostly the creamy ballads but also the cha-cha/salsa/mambo beat. I'm sort of particular about this: I think Julio (and most Spanish singers) singing in English can go very wrong, likewise English-speaking singers going at Spanish (I've always loved Linda Ronstadt, but not so much her Canciones). But, oh, this sound. Buena Vista Social Club. Ruben Blades. Marc Anthony. Los Zafiros. Iglesias, even. That Eddy Herrera song they used in Mad Hot Ballroom. Anything from the Jobim/Gilberto crowd, and Caetano Veloso (I know: They're not Spanish, exactly. But the sound is close enough.) I'm going to be playing this Ferrer music a lot. I think my dad would have liked it, too.
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