Dino Saluzzi on record is rather uncommon, and Dino Saluzzi playing his bandoneon solo is even rarer.So, Albores is a real treat for aficionados of the Argentinian master. Recorded between February and June 2019 in his Buenos Aires studio, these nine tracks demonstrate how, even with the simplest of instruments, his music is an infinite wellspring of stories. A musical storyteller, Saluzzi renders the most intimate, even personal stories accessible to all. For example, he recounts the work of his composer father Cayetano Saluzzi on Don Caye and on Adiós Maestro Kancheli he pays homage to the Georgian composer Giya Kancheli who died in 2019 and whose repertoire he covered in 2010 on Giya Kancheli: Themes From The Songbook with Gidon Kremer and Andrei Pushkarev. More so than on his previous solo albums released under ECM such as Kultrum (1982) and Andina (1988), Albores completely breaks down the borders between Argentine folklore, jazz, contemporary music and improvised music. The minimalist soliloquies resonate his voice, and his bandoneon seems to play to the rhythm of passing time, drawing the contours of the end of a road that inevitably looms closer at the age of 85. Even in those moments of silence and space in the music, Saluzzi is as charismatic and untouchable as a bard. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

With 2015's Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy, Colombian reggatoñero Maluma began to shift his golden boy image to wade into the stream of the genre's embrace of slick urban grooves, securing a Latin Grammy nomination for the track "El Tiki" under the Best Urban Performance banner. With F.A.M.E., Maluma blurs the reggaeton line with a calculated collection of electronic, contemporary R&B, hip-hop, and Latin and Anglo pop. It's an outing that underlines his considerable vocal skills more than his public image; it's a welcome development, though based on several tunes here -- notably back-to-back radio-ready jams like the skittering "Corazón" (with Nego do Borel) and the midtempo dance ballad "El Prestamo" -- it's obvious he's been deeply influenced by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's monster hit "Despacito." (On the other hand, Maluma has always had a soft spot for acoustic steel-string instruments so the balanced reliance on them, as well as the inclusion of electronics, isn't new, it's just focused in a different direction.) Uncharacteristically, Maluma employs the Anglo tongue on three fine reggaeton jams -- "Hangover" (feat. Prince Royce), "I Like It," and "Unfollow" -- but given their musical makeup and production, that move is not so much a concession to Anglo culture as an erasure of already artificial linguistic pop borderlines. Check the way Maluma's musica urbano grooves meet vintage reggaeton in the killer "Condena," with his smooth, sweet, loverman delivery riding just above the beat. On the jagged "La Ex," a bilingual duet with Jason Derulo, reggaeton and dembow meet soul, while "Mi Declaracion," with Timbaland and Sid, is a Latin soul journey through bolero and layered, bumping reggaeton. "Marineo" is a gorgeous ballada romántica complete with sappy lyrics, but Maluma's steamy delivery gets them across. There are two versions of "Felices Los 4" to close the set. Up first is the blurry, blissed-out weave of contemporary R&B and sultry reggaeton kissed by guitars and basses; the latter is a grooving salsa version with Marc Anthony assisting. Ultimately, F.A.M.E. is the sound of Maluma branching out. While there are enough of his earlier sounds to keep the faithful listening, his songwriting restlessly explores new musical terrain. This set is an infectious, lavishly produced, richly textured outing from one of modern reggaeton's most provocative and compelling talents.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

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