The highly influential Puta's Fever opened the door for a flood of young rock bands outside the English-speaking music world to fashion new hybrids that reflected their own musical cultures blended with popular worldwide sounds like rock and reggae. Manu Chao and company started from patchanka, a fast-paced French music hall style that sounds like speeded-up ragtime or hot jazz, and started singing songs in Spanish, French, and Arabic. The motor driving all the disparate elements on Puta's Fever is Santiago el Aguila Casariego's fierce drumming. And what an array of styles -- calliope-like keyboards, a Latin groove on "Patchanka," Tex-Mex on Joe "King" Carrasco's "Patchuko Hop," and dub reggae on "Peligro" -- pass through Mano Negra's manic mix. "Mano Negra" sounds like soundtrack music for a spaghetti western surf movie (really), while "Rebel Spell" marries a gospel chorus and hard rock guitar to a rapped street tale of shooting Brother Rasta dead. Puta's Fever is a triumph of eclecticism as a style where each song shifts into a different musical gear, and one key jumping-off point for the rock en español (or Latin alternative) school. Which doesn't mean that Mano Negra abandoned their original inspiration -- English lyrics dominate and there's a strong identification with a classic rock & roll outlaw stance in "Rock 'N' Roll Band" and the '50s-rooted "Devil's Call."© Don Snowden /TiVo

Since her debut in 2002, Natalia Lafourcade has embarked on a wildly creative, seldom predictable, and richly rewarding musical career. Blessed with both a powerful voice and a clear reverence for the depth and range of Mexican music past and present, Lafourcade has consistently blurred the lines between tradition, pop culture, and adventurous iconoclasm. Coming off the heels of two remarkable albums (Musas, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, 2017 and 2018, respectively) that combined covers of Latin American folk and pop standards from the mid-20th century with Lafourcade's original songwriting and the acoustic sounds of guitar duo Los Macorinos, as well as a breakthrough with English-speaking audiences thanks to a duet with Miguel on the Coco soundtrack's "Remember Me," her announcement in 2018 that she was going to take a hiatus from performing was somewhat surprising. That break was short-lived, and in early 2019 she announced a new musical project conceptually complementary to the two Musas albums: a live concert of mid-century Mexican classics, combined with new and old original material by Lafourcade done in a similar style. The concert was so successful—both artistically and as a fundraising tool—that the singer quickly went into the studio to record much of the material. This more eflective and quiet volume opens with the (literally) haunting "La Llorona," one of several songs that also appeared on the Musas albums; here, the ghost story is delivered in an even more spare and plaintive fashion, setting the stage for the 10 songs that follow, all of which revel in their emotional intensity. Although some tracks are arranged in a more complex manner than the guitars-and-voice style of the Musas albums (the gentle horns and delicate strings on a fantastic medley of "Alma Mía / Tú Me Acostumbraste / Soledad y El Mar" manage to be both diaphanous and warmly comforting), the mood is consistent, leaning heavily on son jarocho musical style and the skills of the mariachi orchestra on hand as backing musicians. As with the first volume of Un Canto, Lafourcade breezily shares the spotlight with other singers, including on another version of "La Llorona" (with Silvana Estrada and Ely Guerra), a medley of two Mon Laferte songs ("La Trenza / Amor Completo") with the Chilean singer, and, most notably, on "Recuérdeme," in which the Coco song is rendered as a lush ballad with guest vocals by Carlos Rivera, showing both her creative generosity and the effortlessness with which she is able to honor traditional forms in a modern-sounding context. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

The pairing of Afro-Majorcan vocalist Concha Buika and Afro-Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés has apparently been a long time coming. But they are here together on this lovely recording, featuring songs from a wide variety of composers, in a handful of duets, or with the Valdés' band backing them. El Ultimo Trago -- translated as "The Last Drink" -- is as much a tribute to Mexican singer Chavela Vargas, a major influence on Buika. She's a passionate singer with a dusky, slightly raspy, thin, and gritty voice, but she sure can belt out a song like a great blues singer, or Cape Verdean contemporary Césaria Evora. While coming from the land of flamenco, this music retains the son quality of Afro-Cuban music, in great part due to the professional expertise Valdés adds to the musical arrangements, not necessarily the lyric content. Those expressions come from a romantic context, telling tales of lessons in life sung in Spanish, mostly brief and to the point, made more elegant by the legendary pianist, who as usual can do no wrong. The consistency of these recordings from track to track reflects the romantic notions of these great musicians, from the slow, sultry cha-cha form of "Soledad" and "Sombras," to the light son "Cruz de Olvido" with the magnificent, regal, traditional-styled piano playing of Valdés, "Se Me Hizo Facil" where Buika's singing is at times exuberant, or the bolero type "Somos" with chiming chords from the pianist. The uptempo clave beat of "El Andariego" incites a more animated Buika and instills Valdés to jump into a montuno bridge, and a very lively "Luz de Luna" is pushed along by the skilled trumpet playing of Carlos Sarduy. Bassist Lazaro Rivero Alarcón, percussionist Yaroldy Abreu Robles, and drummer Juan Carlos Rojas Catro lay out on several selections, as Buika and Valdés go it alone for the passionate "Las Cuidades," the short, quaint, classic waltz "En El Ultimo Trago," the lilting "Las Simplas Cosas" that bears resemblance to the croon tune "Besame Mucho," or the delicate closer "Vamonos." Clearly a chemistry exists here, beautifully exotic, with Buika as the shining star to be discovered and fully illuminated, with Valdés as her colorful spotlight technician. It's unlikely you'll find a better pairing of an amazing singer and accompanist anywhere else, no matter the music type, but if you enjoy the classic Latin song performed with every ounce of emotion available, this recording will be impossible to resist.© Michael G. Nastos /TiVo

From the violinist and Piazzolla fanatic Gidon Kremer comes this album of works by Piazzolla, along with one song in tribute to the legend. He covers a decent range of Piazzolla's work, moving equally well between slower milongas and faster tangos. The album starts out with the relatively somber, but quite dramatic "Milonga en re." It then moves on to a more upbeat set with "Vardarito" and the grandiose "Oblivion." Then comes "Escualo," which has something nearly akin to a march driving it. The more nostalgic tone of "Café 1930" immediately follows, snapping the listener back into a somber mood. The grand "Concierto para quinteto" makes an appearance, followed by "Soledad" and the deeper, darker sound of "Buenos Aires hora cero." "Celos" follows, to be followed itself by Jerry Peterburshsky's tribute to Piazzolla, "El sol sueno." Many of the attributes of Piazzolla's compositions make themselves apparent in this tribute, though the strings are in places somewhat more standard than Piazzolla's music might normally lead one to be accustomed to. The album finishes on the aptly titles "Grand Tango," for simply violin and piano. Kremer is among a small handful of musicians that are able to aptly evoke the power of the music of Piazzolla to come along since the death of Piazzolla (Yo-yo Ma's masterful album of Piazzolla works also numbers with Kremer). The passion and emotion created by Piazzolla's tangos are performed nearly to perfection here, with the only downside being the absence of Piazzolla himself. The ensemble of Russians and Eastern Europeans makes a surprisingly good stab at Argentine music here, showing if nothing else the universality of Piazzolla's work. Pick it up as a fan of Piazzolla, but pick up some actual Piazzolla first as a newcomer.© TiVo

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 Agustín 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 Peña, who famously used to accompany Chavela Vargas, among many others artists. Even if Musas features several other notable collaborators (Gustavo Guerrero, Martín Bruhn, Ximena Sariñana, Juan Manuel Torreblanca, Héctor 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 Domínguez (Cuba), Violeta Parra (Chile), and Simón Díaz (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 "Tú 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 /TiVo

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The concept of this debut album from Spain's leading roots ensemble is that you are listening to a radio broadcast in Tarifa, Spain's southernmost point, so that you might hear a mixture of sounds from Spain and North Africa. And indeed fuzzy, distant radio sounds introduce one song and close the album. The album features an incredible variety of instruments, including among many others: guitar, tar (Persian lute), buzuki (Greek mandolin), derbouka (North African clay drum), ney (Arabic flute), crumhorn (a loud, buzzing Medieval wind instrument), and the Indian harmonium. The group is not shy about including modern popular instruments like soprano and tenor saxophone, electric organ, and electric bass. The album features almost as many styles as it does instruments, yet they tend to come together as one new style, rather than sounding like a musical salad. The album starts off with the title track, a smooth mix of rumba and flamenco. "Oye, China" is a love lament that plays the layered clip-clop rhythm of the plucked instruments off the more continuous sounds of the accordion and the breathy nsuri (Indian bamboo flute). "Lamma bada" is a straight reading of one of the most oft-played tunes of the Arab world, using Radio Tarifa's favored instruments, retaining the song's modal structure (i.e., all the instruments, even the bass, playing the same line at once). One song later in the album stands out from all the rest. It is an adaptation of a song by a Medieval troubadour named Walter von der Vogelweide originally called "Nu Alrest Lebe Ich Mir Werde," but which Radio Tarifa simply calls "Nu Alrest." Dominated by the crumhorns and the melancholy tenor of Javier Raibal, "Nu Alrest" carries a potent charge of fantasy and sadness, conjuring images of crossing the desert alone on camel. It is imagination like this that makes Rumba Argelina one of the most important world music albums of the 1990s.© Kurt Keefner /TiVo

In 2011, Alejandro Sanz left Warner after 20 immensely successful years. Predictably, the label soon released Colección Definitiva, a four-CD/DVD box set surveying the eight studio albums Sanz made for the label, from 1991's Viviendo Deprisa to 2009's Paraíso Express, as well as a myriad of live and compilation releases (including the three-CD/DVD package Grandes Éxitos 91_04, which overlaps considerably with this collection). The first two CDs of Colección Definitiva focus on Sanz's many greatest hits, such as "Corazón Partío" and "Cuando Nadie Me Ve." The third disc is devoted to Sanz's appearances on other artists' (Shakira, El Canto del Loco, Miguel Bosé, etc.) albums, while the fourth gathers together 13 of Sanz's duets, including those with Ketama, Ivan Lins, Joaquín Sabina, and Enrique Morente, among others. The DVD features all of Sanz's video clips. A downsized edition containing only the first two greatest-hits disc is also available.© Mariano Prunes /TiVo

After eight years of a self-starting professional career, Latin/Europop star Laura Pausini brings a collection of her best songs in the English, Italian, and Spanish languages, including her first smash, "La Soledad"; a contemporary version of her second hit, "Se Fue"; a song called "One More Time," featured in Kevin Costner's movie Message in a Bottle; and "Dime," "Cuando Se Ama," and "Volveré Junto A Ti," which started climbing the charts as soon as the album was released. Brazilian legend Gilberto Gil, Italian pop singer Nek, and José El Frances made guest appearances during the album's recording sessions.© Drago Bonacich /TiVo

Although she was born, clutching a bandoneon, in Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine, Louise Jallu continues her career at the service of the music of the Buenos Aires slums: the powerful Tango. In defying sexist and geographical taboos, although France has a soft spot for Argentine expression, her approach is holistic and luminous. In particular, she built her encompassing love on the back of the intoxicating work of Astor Piazzolla, the great revolutionary of this ecstatic form of musical expression, a lover of classical music who broadened its horizons and blazed it a path to modernity and freedom. At the head of her brilliant quartet, rounded out by Mathias Lévy (violin and guitar), Marc Benham (piano) and Alexandre Perrot (double bass), Louise Jallu pays tribute to the master on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of his birth. A tribute that matches the stature of its subject, it is respectfully inventive. For proof, just listen to the unexpected revival of the classic Libertango. Or indeed see the presence of Gustavo Beytelmann, Piazzolla pianist from the 70s who caresses the ebony and ivory on half of the covers gathered here. Like Piazzolla himself, Jallu flirts with the spirit of jazz, taking risks, while favouring swing and an atmosphere of passion. On Oblivion, a composition from the later part of the big beast's life, she invites one of the most daring bugle players of the French jazz scene, Médéric Collignon. Even in the Porteño district of San Telmo that saw the birth of tango, Piazzolla 2021 should command much admiration. Louise Jallu brings a very contemporary and personal dimension, coloured by her origins. She co-wrote the arrangements with the director of the Gennevilliers Conservatory, Bernard Cavanna, a contemporary pianist and composer, a companion of Henri Dutilleux and Georges Aperghis, who certainly encouraged revolutionary aspirations in his former student. © Benjamin MiNiMuM/Qobuz

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