Guaracha

Jordi Savall & Montserrat Figueras - El Nuevo Mundo - Folias Criollas (2010) {Alia Vox AVSA 9876}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 414 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 183 Mb
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© 2010 Alia Vox | AVSA 9876
Classical / Chamber Music / Vocal Music / Early Music / Baroque / World Music

This album takes off from where a previous Jordi Savall release, Villancicos y danzas criollas (Creole Dances and Villancicos), left off. Now Savall, aided by his wife and lead vocalist Montserrat Figueras, as well as several of his longtime co-conspirators, has formed a new group, Tembembe Ensamble Continuo, specifically devoted to the Latin American Baroque repertory heard here. The album is accompanied by an impressive 172-page booklet, with all texts in the original language, generally Spanish but with mixtures of Native American and African speech, English, French, Castilian Spanish, German, and Italian, and booklet notes (in all those languages plus Catalan), including an overview of the genres involved plus a historical essay on the culture of the Spanish-colonized Latin-Caribbean region.

Jordi Savall - Harmonie Universelle II (2004) {Alia Vox ‎AV9839}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 379 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 188 Mb
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© 2004 Alia Vox | AVSA 9839
Classical / Medieval / Renaissance / Baroque

Harmonie Universelle II illustrates the great historical diversity and range of repertory (from the 15th century to the beginning of the 21st century, in both thematic albums and recordings of works from the great repertory) as well as the wide range of musical formations (solo viol, small instrumental ensemble, solo vocalist, solo orchestra, orchestra and choir, opera) to be found on Alia Vox, an artists’ label created in 1998 by the two great early music exponents: Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras. Also featured in this new portrait is an extract from an opera by Vicente Martín y Soler on a libretto by Da Ponte, Il Burbero di buon cuore, recorded in Montpellier in 1995 – a rare opportunity to hear a performance not available on disc.

Tito Puente was never one for half measures, and even in death there's no modesty involved, as the label calls him King of Kings. It might be an exaggeration, but only a slight one, and it gets the attention. Still, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and there's a hearty meal here, albeit one missing one or two choice dishes, like Puente's original version of "Oye Como Va," a song that indirectly brought him a whole new audience. However, "Honk Kong Mambo" is here, "Dance Mania," and "Dance of the Headhunters," so it's hard to find too much fault with the disc's 21-track selection. While the man wasn't shy about having his timbales, or himself, front and center, he truly was a driving force in his music - and, as this CD shows, he knew how to write more than his share of good tunes, too…