ALL ARTISTSAmerica > Argentina > Mercedes Sosa
// Mercedes Sosa
© DR
Corazón libre
Mercedes Sosa celebrates her seventy years with a masterfully controlled album highlighting the purity of one of Latin America’s most recognisable voices. Her health problems have arguably delivered a death knell to the power behind her singing, but this courageous musician simply adopts her delivery to these timeless songs inspired by Argentina’s northeast folklore. The voice that moved her continent over four decades is now steeped in a subtle and wise experience that is gentle yet penetrating.
“Corazon libre” is a finely balanced mixture of classics revisited and new songs by contemporary lyricists and poets. Folk standards such as “Tonada del viejo amor” and “Zamba de Argamonte” are sparingly recited to the sounds of stroked guitars and complementary male vocals, performed by the renowned singer Eduardo Falù. The newer songs relate subjects that have always been close to Sosa’s heart such as liberation (the title track which is destined to be a new Mercedes classic), poverty (“Los ninos de nuestro olvido”) and tragedy (“Sufrida tierra”).
This is Sosa’s first album since her 2003 “Acustico” took the Latin Grammy for Best Folklore Album of the Year. Her fans have been holding their breath hoping the follow-up would honour the acoustic direction she took then. They will not be disappointed with this minimalist offering. The head tones are serenely controlled, and the sweetness of Sosa’s voice is now impregnated with wisdom and experience. The accompaniment of her faithful guitarists Alberto Rojo and Luis Salinas underline the continuity of icon’s work.
As the final notes draw the curtain down on this pearl of an album one closes the CD to ponder on the restrained drawing offered to the Argentinian by Joan Baez back in 1988. The links to another world will fill her many fans with a bemused melancholy. Mercedes Sosa’s voice hangs over an era and the knowledgeable twinkle her eyes now adorn is likely to linger on well after she has moved on to greener pastures.
Daniel Brown
// ALSO
- Mercedes Sosa 1935-2009
- Youssou N'Dour
- Navega
- Art Melody's futuristic African hip hop
- Khaled, Liberté
- The Cuban diaspora, Buena Vista Exile Club
- Andrés 'El Jíbaro' Jiménez, Andrés 'El Jíbaro' Jiménez - Puerto Rico's folk music icon
- Nigerian soul sensation Nneka live at Cargo 23 July
- Joe Bataan & James Pants live at Cargo 11 June plus dates in Leeds and Birmingham
// ALL MERCEDES SOSA'S REVIEWS
Corazón libre
27/11/2006
// DISCOGRAPHY
|
|
|
Corazón libre (Album)
Oro (Album)
Vengo a ofrecer mi corazon (Album)
Misa criolla (Album)
Acustico (Album)
Mujeres Argentinas (Album)// LINKS
RELATED ARTISTS
>> Lila Downs
>> Omar Sosa
>> Mariana Montalvo
>> Marta Topferova
>> David Byrne
REPORTS
// POST A COMMENT
Security code
Nickname *
Your comment (2000 char. max) *
>> comment it on the forum>>
Les blogs
Mondomix
Puglia Sounds
It will be the window of Puglia Sounds in France and in all Europe. This blog will show all the i...
AFRO by SOUL
Africa is the future and the future is now…as the prophecy unfolds Eric Soul is as always ahead o...
The Center for Black Music
The Center for Black Music in Salvador, Bahia, and the International Exhibition of Black Music in...
Charlie Gillett
Charlie Gillett was one of the UK's leading World Music journalists. For years he presented a wee...
Mondomix - The essential online resource for worldwide music and culture. Music, cinema, literature, society, travel, events, reports, artists. Experience the world with Mondomix.
