Musas

by Natalia Lafourcade

Overview

Over the past decade, Natalia Lafourcade appears to have found her groove, alternating between new albums of original material and projects that allow her to investigate other avenues; in particular, the rich heritage of Mexican and Latin American song. In this respect, Musas may initially seem like a sequel to Mujer Divina, her 2012 tribute to Agustin Lara, but a closer analysis exposes several telling differences between records. With Mujer Divina, Lafourcade was translating Lara's work into her pop idiom in the company of several Latin rock and pop stars. Musas, on the other hand, is neither dedicated to a single composer nor a duets album. Most of all, instead of bringing old songs to the present, Lafourcade herself is now traveling back in time to fully immerse in traditional sounds and genres. Finally, rather than celebrate a famous past composer, this project was born from Lafourcade's desire to work with Los Macorinos, the exquisite guitar duo formed by Juan Carlos Allende and Miguel Pena, who famously used to accompany Chavela Vargas, among many others artists. Even if Musas features several other notable collaborators (Gustavo Guerrero, Martin Bruhn, Ximena Sarinana, Juan Manuel Torreblanca, Hector Castillo, David Aguilar, and Cheche Alara, not to mention a duet with the great Omara Portuondo), los Macorinos remain the heart and soul of this record, together of course with Lafourcade's voice: she has rarely sung better. As for the repertoire, Lafourcade tackles songs by Lara (again!) and Roberto Cantoral, but also extends her vision beyond Mexico to cover Frank Dominguez (Cuba), Violeta Parra (Chile), and Simon Diaz (Venezuela), gently navigating across 50 years or more of Latin American folk music. Unsurprisingly, Musas is a delight from start to finish. Lost in the album's elegance and breeziness, however, the casual listener may miss what is truly impressive about this work. Lafourcade is not merely revisiting the Great Latin American Songbook here: she is measuring herself against it. Musas includes five Lafourcade originals written in the same spirit as the songs by the celebrated composers mentioned above, and -- unless one cheats by looking at the credits -- it is virtually impossible to tell them apart from their noble predecessors. Self-penned opener "Tu Si Sabes Quererme," a son jarocho made in 2016 and graced by a sublime performance by Lafourcade and the always-impeccable los Macorinos, is easily the most beautiful song on this lovely record and an automatic contender for Latin track of the year. It gets better: apparently a second volume from these sessions is already in the mastering stage. ~ Mariano Prunes

Product Details

Release Date:	04/28/2017
Label:	Imports
UPC:	0889854004521
Rank:	19584

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Natalia Lafourcade   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals,Charango,Percussion
Omara Portuondo   Vocals,Featured Artist
Kiko Campos   Guitar
Ruben Lopez Arista   Mezcla
Martin Bruhn   Palmas,Percussion
Hector "Camejo" Sans   Tres Cubano
Oscar Pacheco   Percussion
Gustavo Guerrero   Cuatro,Guitar,Palmas,Vocals,Maracas,Vihuela,Charango,Xylophone,Percussion,Lap Steel Guitar,Guitar (Electric),Venezuelan Cuatro
Los Macorinos   Featured Artist
Cesar Pacheco   Percussion
Eugenia Leon   Featured Artist
Juan Carlos Allende   Palmas,Guitar (Classical)
Alfredo Pino   Flugelhorn
Ernesto Ramos Nieto   Clarinet
Isidro Martinez   Trumpet
Cheche Alara   Piano,Palmas,Balafon,Harmonia,Harmonio,Harmonium,Vibraphone
Miguel Pena   Palmas,Guitar (Classical)
Daniel Bitran Arizpe   Palmas
Carlos Allende   Guitar (Classical)

Technical Credits

Oscar Aviles   Composer
Ximena Sarinana   Coros
Kiko Campos   Arranger,Direction,Realization
Manuel Ponce   Composer
Alberto Dominguez   Composer
Margarita Lecuona   Composer
Daniel Flores   Coros
Agustin Lara   Composer
Frank Dominguez   Composer
Natalia Lafourcade   Effects,Composer
David Aguilar   Coros,Composer
Ruben Lopez Arista   Recording
Violeta Parra Sandoval   Composer
Adriana Rodriguez   Coros
Juan Manuel Torreblanca   Coros
Gustavo Guerrero   Coros,Effects,Composer
Edson Ramirez Heredia   Recording Assistant
Paolo Vanessa Gonzales   Coros
Maria Cristina De Angulo   Coros
Juliana Perez   Coros
Olga Lucia Vives   Coros
Rocio Hernandez   Recording Assistant
Camila Esguerra   Coros
Diana Chavez   Coros
Ericka Banuelos   Coros
Iraky Cardenas   Coros
Laura Macias   Coros
Leonardo Veras   Coros
Natalia Afanador   Coros
Ruben Camacho   Coros
Valeria Arroyo   Coros
Alvaro Carrillo   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Simon Diaz   Composer
Jack Brooks   Composer
Juan Carlos Allende   Coros,Arranger,Composer
Juan Manuel   Coros
Roberto Cantoral   Composer
Roger Hudson   Coros
Harry Warren   Composer
Benigno Lara Foster   Composer
Francisco Dino Lopez Ramos   Composer
Nando Hernandez   Co-Arranger,Orchestration
Cheche Alara   Coros
Miguel Pena   Coros,Arranger
Felipe Villanueva   Composer
Tono Peregrino   Coros
Maria Grever   Composer
Daniel Bitran Arizpe   Coros