Peruvian criollo at its finest
922475
If you have never heard criollo music from Peru, this is your chance. I first heard this album while sitting in a small cantina in Lima. I was so taken with it, I asked the cantinero to take out the cd and tell me who it was. He was more than happy to show me and... well, I had yet another musical treasure. La Gran reunion is a group of older musicians with seasoned voices and great musical harmony. Close your eyes and let the music take to to an older Lima with wafting cigar smoke and glasses of beer.
3775176
This new CD from Diego Torres is just filled with great songs and modern latin rhythms.  Personally, one of his best. This album is upbeat, simple, yet rythmic enough to have you listening to it over and over again. Very danceable (your usual latin party music) and transmitting at the same time positive lyrics and hope to the audience, not found in many artists today.  This is not your usual mainstream pop music like Enrique Iglesias or Ricky Martin, although each has their style which they accentuate well. Excellent timing for his fellow argentineans and the world really, who need positive things these days.  Most of his songs are very good, and especially the now popular 'Sueos' and 'Color Esperanza' which are awesome tracks.
I definitely recommend buying this CD, all songs are well performed and composed.
Hope this helps.
2494986
Julio Jaramillo (1935-1978) was known as "El hijo favorito de Guayaquil" and is still a beloved music idol in his native Ecuador. His beautiful, sweet voice is filled with a pure emotion that touches the soul, and there is a simplicity to these songs that make them endearing and speak to us of a time when things were slower and less complicated.
The accompaniment is marvelous, mostly using acoustic guitars as the main instrumentation, with one song including a Paraguayan harp, and another with a fabulous piano arrangement. The musicians are top-notch for this genre, and will delight even the most critical audience. The sound is quite good for its age, and like most of these compilations, there are no liner notes. The total time is 31'40.
My first memories of music are of the pasillos and valses I heard during my childhood spent in Ecuador, so Jaramillo, as the premier interpreter of these lovely, melodic songs, is dear to my heart; but anyone who likes the music of Latin America will appreciate and treasure this great artist, the "Favorite son of Guayaquil", and Ecuador's musical gift to the world.
2517316
I really enjoyed this album by Patricia Petibon, who has rapidly become one of my favorite modern singers. This Latin-themed record features excellent performances in a variety of styles with Spanish or Portuguese roots as the common theme.

For a coloratura soprano, Petibon has a remarkable range, and her mastery of deeper registers as well as the high end is well on display here. A few works -- including selections from Xavier Montsalvatge's "Cinco canciones negras" -- were actually written for mezzo soprano.

As usual on Amazon, the list of works provided doesn't give insight into the composers. Here is a quick breakdown:

1. Enrique Granados - Tonadillas: La maja dolorosa II: Ay majo de mi vida
2. Xavier Montsalvatge - Cinco canciones negras: Cancin de cuna
3. Xavier Montsalvatge - Cinco canciones negras: Canto negro
4. Joaqun Nin y Castellanos - Veinte cantos populares espaoles: El vito
5. Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: I. Aria (Cantilena)
6. Joaqun Turina - Poema en forma de canciones: Cantares
7. Gernimo Gimnez - La Tempranica: La tarntula  un bicho m malo (Zapateado)
8. Rafael Calleja Gmez, Tomas Barrera Saavedra - Emigrantes: Adis Granada
9. Manuel de Falla - La vida breve, Act I: Vivan los que ren!
10. Federico Moreno Torroba - La marchenera: Petenera
11. Enrique Granados - Tonadillas: El mirar de la maja
12. Jos Serrano Simen - La cancin del olvido: Marinela, Marinela
13. Traditional, Francisco Ernani Braga - Ogund uarer
14. Nicolas Bacri - Melodias de la Melancolia: A la mar
15. Nicolas Bacri - Melodias de la Melancolia: Silencio mi nio
16. Nicolas Bacri - Melodias de la Melancolia: Hay quien dice
17. Nicolas Bacri - Melodias de la Melancolia: Solo

There are only a couple of instantly recognizable "standards" -- the first movement of Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 and the rousing selection from "La Tempranica" by Gernimo Gimnez. I do regret that Petibon didn't include the second movement from Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5, as an integral performance would probably have made this my favorite recording of Villa-Lobos' most popular work.

But apart from that regret, I found the selection of material very satisfying, and was happy to gain exposure to a number of Spanish, Catalan, Cuban and Brazilian composers that are off the beaten path of standard classical repertory.

The centerpiece of the CD is the new song cycle "Melodias de la Melancholia", written specifically for Petibon by contemporary French composer Nicolas Bacri. While his French status does fudge the album's Iberian theme a bit, the Spanish text -- and more importantly, the rich expressiveness of the music -- more than make up for this. This is a well-rounded song cycle that takes us through a variety of melancholy moods, from languished to anguished. Very nice indeed.

I am very happy that Patricia Petibon is gaining wider exposure and recognition. My perceptions of her as a performer were skewed for quite a while. A few years ago I lived in Europe and was an avid viewer of the French classical cable channel Mezzo. Between longer programs, Mezzo would regularly play short classical video clips, MTV-style, and Petibon was in their constant rotation -- but only with strange, quirky bits featuring her in various outlandish hairstyles. These were mainly, but not exclusively from her role as Olympia in Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann". Mentally, I guess I wrote her off for a while as a talented novelty singer.

My perceptions began to change seriously when I saw the video of her singing "Der Holle Rache" -- the aria of the Queen of the Night from "The Magic Flute". Shot in the recording studio with no makeup or pretense, there I saw a singer with power I had not imagined before, coupled with humor and easy grace. I started listening to more Patricia Petibon and became hooked as a real fan. This album confirms her power and personal charm as a performer, as well as her status as one of the top talents around today. Highly recommended.
2573870
I love this album. It is one of the most authentic performances of Andeam music anywhere. Chaskinakuy plays South American music with a wide number of original Andean instruments. I've seen them in concert!  They are talented musicians whose music is heartfelt and true to the original rhythms of villages in the mountains of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. You'll love this album for its beautiful music that will take you to a different world. Highly recommended.
2233483
In my opinion, David Calzado y su Charanga Habanera is the best Salsa/Timba band of the last twenty years in the whole world. Charanga Habanera's songs  are fast but never monotonous. The songs are very different from one another. There are so many changes of rhythm and speed and styles inside individual songs that those changes really turn the songs into medleys. Besides, the music is never old fashioned. It is a blend of Salsa, Reggae, Hip Hop, Rhythm and Blues, Puerto Rican Bomba, and  Rock filtered through modern Cuban music with faint echoes of yesteryear Cuban music. The style is frenetic and loud and above all, incredibly complex. I know it sounds like I am describing a Latin Jazz album. But make no mistake. This is extremely danceable music.
299320
Alejandro Sanz, a Spanish sensation, went to Miami to record this latest album.  Unfortunately for the potential North American audience the lyrics of this gifted artist are just too important in order to appreciate fully the work.  But do not let this deter you from trying.  If a couple of songs such as an ode to Buenos Aires seem out of place, the other ones make up for it.  For the U.S. audience it should be fascinating to hear the uses of Flamenco and its combination with other rhythms, to sense the emotional depth through the music, even sense the unbearable angst of a song like "cuando nadie me ve" (when nobody sees me).  His preceeding record, "mas", was perhaps overall better, in particular for Spanish speaking folks, but this one has a more universal reach.  Trust me, you need not be bilingual like me to be able to enjoy it.
623382
Take yourself on a journey with this lovely book.  Large high quality photos and a wonderful success story of saving the vicuna.  This high altitude dwelling animal was treasured by the Incas for the soft warm fibers of the fleece.  It can be sheared like a sheep rather than hunted to extinction as almost occurred.  It is a story where the local populations work with traditional methods to allow the sustainable harvest of the fleece.  Happy animals running wild and people benefiting by being able to keep a traditional way of life.
4749822
For lovers of ranchera's performed at their best, this is a must have.  Durcal is an established artist in her own right with a mesmerizing voice that is romantic and beautiful.  Banquells, having been trained in opera to portray Evita on stage in Mexico and perform standards by Andrew Lloyd Webber that even led Barbara Streisand to lend her own microphone to the songstress for recording an album of Broadway music, has a rich and powerful soprano that can perform any music genre even lying down, ranchera music being no exception.  Though her talent is far more underrated than Durcal's by the finicky Mexican public, together they make a compilation that is to die for.  Listen to the music samples and be your own judge.  Two of Latin America's greatest voices are present on this one CD.  Incredible!
4866233
Another great book by Nilda (muchas gracias Nilda). As a young child growing up in Peru, the images of the old (and young women) strolling through the hills with their drop spindles while tending the livestock is still heavily ingrained in this old brain. What a great tribute to the artisans of Peru.
3866036
One of Ute Lemper's finest albums.  On this collection she has set 12 love poems by Noble prize winner Pablo Neruda to music that she herself composed.  Some of the songs she performs in the original Spanish, others in the established English and French translations, and on "Alianza/Sonata" she alternates between English and Spanish while on "Ausencia" she sings the first half in Spanish then finishes the song in French.  This album  is one of the most highly valued and treasured cds that I own and I cannot recommend it enough.  If you're new to Ute Lemper's music and/or Pablo Neruda this is a great disc to start with and well worth the import price.  The cd booklet also includes the poems and translations.
650055
Of all my Putumayo cd's, this is definitely my favourite.  I can listen to this one over and over and over...  Perfect for a chilled party, a long drive on a Sunday afternoon, a candlelight dinner, or any other worthy occasion.  I just love Sueno Mama by Roberto Poveda, and Mariposa by Si Se.  After listening to the artists on the album I have bought many of their original recordings.  It opened a whole new world of Latin Music to me. You definitely won't regret buying this album.
1285105
First of all, I shall warn you that I am totally biased and almost enamoured by Ms Petibon; she is just body and soul gorgeous. Her temperament is eminently latin (amongst the best I've seen, along with another French soprano, Ms. Dessay) with bouts of joy and sorrow deeply felt. Her acting abilities both visually and vocally are outstanding.  And her control of voice absolutely amazing.
So there.
Now to this disc. I am rather puzzled by some of the relatively cold reception given to this disc on this column. And in trying to rationalize it in order to write a review, I have to assume it lies with our personal  temperament. Having peruvian culture in my veins it is no surprise that so many of this music speaks to me with its emotion, rhythm and color. And the singer is as good as it gets in all of it, totally idiomatic, no accents, pure musicality.
So when you have gorgeous laments (Purcell, Charpentier) surrounded by the folk oriented uplifting baroque music of the new world, I can only celebrate and enjoy these 75+ magnificently produced disc.
I hope you buy it and relish on it as well.
4972390
This is pure music.

The instrumentation is so raw... the flutes, drums, and maracas just flow with tribal rhythms that are hypnotic.

I'm very much into Columbian rhythms such as Vallenato and Cumbia but this is much more raw... this is music from the hinterlands and the coast... this is music that has held on to it's tradition and is unchanged from what it was generations back.

I'll be in the Andes in a few weeks time and this will be my soundtrack to it... no doubt about it.
456800
Ray Gayo and Sammy Salinas have done it, this is a great production of traditional Colombian Salsas. This CD has more than the usual 3 or 4 hits, almost all the songs are hits. The production and sound quality is great, totally produced and recorded in Miami, Florida U.S.A. My Favorites are "Amaneciendo", "Ocho Dias" and "El Cantor De Fonseca", this three songs have great lyrics and the Salsa beat makes you get up and dance. If you are a Colombian Salsa aficionado or just a Salsa crazed fan you will love this CD. Buy it and you will not be disappointed...
3105708
The Spanish proverb, "He who has more, wants more" could not be more apt for the Spanish conquest and occupation of South America, especially regarding their usurpation of the Incas.  MacQuarrie does a truly outstanding job of describing the decades-long struggle for control of western South America, the only significant drawback being his inclusion of the modern archaeloglical competition (and conflict) over the discovery of "lost" Incan ruins.

It is a compelling story.  Francisco Pizarro arrived in South America with a mere handful of men (168 soldiers, 62 on horseback), "seeking a way around one of life's basic rules ... In Peru, as elsewhere in the Americas, Spaniards were not looking for fertile land that they could farm, they were looking for the cessatin of their own need to perform manual labor."  In this respect, Pizarro and his men became successful beyond their wildest imaginings.  This is not to suggest that the Incas easily gave up and went gently into that good night - far from it.  For fourty years the Inca tenaciously and heroically fought back before eventually capitulating.  MacQuarrie is not a historian, yet he has meticulously researched and cited his sources in his retelling of the encounter between the Spaniards and the Incas, to his credit.  He is also a good writer, vividly putting readers in the center of the action and intrigue.

And there is plenty of intrigue, on the parts of both Inca and Spaniards.  The Inca had no formal line of succession - when an emperor died, civil war was expected, the strongest son surviving.  This political infighting was exploited by the Spaniards.  On their first contact, Atahualpa (the then emperor of the Inca) planned on castrating the Spaniards and seizing their horses - Pizarro, however, struck first.  Even as the Spaniards began to consolidate their power, there was infighting, manipulation and double-dealing between groups of conquistadors.  It would be difficult for a writer to invent the thrilling ups and downs of the fortunes of the principal characters as the story unfolds, and MacQuarrie retells it in a masterfully.

Why, then the four stars?  Bookending this riveting true story, MacQuarrie includes the 20th century rediscovery of Maccu Piccu, Ollantaytambo, Vitcos and Vilacabamba by modern archaeologists and fortune hunters.  Like the Spaniards before them, these men were similarly driven, this time not by gold, but fame and international recognition.  And like the Spaniards, there was intrigue and manipulation, in this case over who was the first to "discover" these ruins (I use quotation marks, as in several cases, Peruvian natives were literally living alongside and in these "lost" ruins - of course, scarcely any mention is made of this by those who "found" them).  While this was interesting, I felt it didn't fit very well with the broader historical narrative.

As a general history, this is really excellent work.  The politics, economy and society of the Inca are intertwined with the personal histories of Pizarro (and other familiar names like De Soto and Leon, both of whom participated in the conquest of the Inca before seeking their own fortunes) and the Machiavellian plotting fueled by greed of the Spaniards.  Highly recommended.
4625293
Exquisite, yet firmly rooted in regional folklore, muscular at times, mostly ecstatically ethereal, superbly interpreted.  His "Land of the Air" is simply stunning!  I am so glad that Latin American composers have not bent their knee to 12 tone dissonance.  Jimmy is truly the heir to Ginastera, Piazzola, Golijov, Catan, Marquez and others.