More than 20 years after Captain Beefheart's last musical outing, the Magic Band (sans the Captain) reconvened for the 2003 All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Actually, it's a Magic Band that never was, consisting of Drumbo (John French) on drums, vocals, and harmonica; Rockette Morton (Mark Boston) on bass; and guitarists Mantis and Feelers Reebo (Gary Lucas and Denny Walley, respectively). (For the live shows, Robert Williams – another Magic Band alumnus – took over the drum chair when Drumbo had to sing and play harp.) Of course, these guys knew the material, but they don't just play the tunes, they attack them, summoning up the controlled chaos that made the original Captain Beefheart recordings such singular achievements.
"In the summer of 2019, I travelled to Mexico to compete in the IX International Carlos Prieto Cello Competition, and little did I know, the trip would transform my life musically. At the time I was very well acquainted with Latin American music, but after having the great fortune of winning first prize and returning to Mexico multiple times for performances, I fell in love with the music of Latin America, the culture, the history, and the Spanish language. This album takes the listener on a musical tour through Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Mexico. The centrepiece of the programme is the Sonata in G minor by Manuel Ponce, who is most famous in the classical world for his song Estrellita popularised by Jascha Heifetz. Ponce was keen to reunite the concert world with Mexican folklore and traditional songs, as listeners can hear in the romantic, longing title-track Por ti mi corazon. Spanning over 140 years of Latin American music culture, this album takes us from Ponces unique traditional voice and Villa-Lobos Chopinesque style to music by still-living Cuban guitarist Leo Brouwer his innocent lullaby Cancion de Cuna. Other highlights include Astor Piazzollas timeless Oblivion and Le Grand Tango and Egberto Gismontis Agua e Vinho. As the title suggests, this music pulls at the heartstrings and exudes romance and passion."
Nice, highly stylized album by a versatile vocalist whose trembling sound and eclectic nature have made her tough for record labels to market. This album, like her others, was all over the idiomatic lot and expressively sung, if at times overproduced.