2 Feb 2020

A Summer Romance

From Pick and Mix

Nostalgic tunes from Mariachi Los Camperos, winner of the 2020 GRAMMY for Best Regional Mexican Music Album for De Ayer Para Siempre. The Los Angeles ensemble was formed in 1961 to try and remove the stigma against Mexicans and their working-class music in the United States.   

         

Angélique Kidjo has won the 2020 GRAMMY for Best World Music Album for Celia - her fourth win in the category. Kidjo is from Benin and has become known for her collaborations with prominent musicians and for her unique blending of musical styles.

Kidjo’s album Celia is based on songs made famous by Celia Cruz, the Cuban singer, who popularized Salsa in the 1950s. Behind her huge smile Cruz struggled, firstly to be taken seriously as a woman in Cuba, and then once she was exiled to the United States, against widespread racism and sexism.

 

Danish singer-songwriter Agnes Obel is well known in Europe, with several platinum selling albums of hypnotic ethereal music. She creates all her music herself, layering dozens of tracks on top of each other, but it’s her piano and vocal at the heart of every song.

 

Gershwin composed “Summertime”, one of his most lyrical tunes for his opera Porgy & Bess; in the song Bess sings about the blissful times she imagines for her baby - even though her reality is anything but idyllic. Violinist Ray Chen brings out the song’s poignancy in this instrumental version.

 

The GRAMMY for Best American Roots Song was won by I'm With Her for the song “Call my Name”. The folk band is made up of three celebrated songwriters: Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan. Together their lyricism, musicianship, and harmonies reflect a powerful chemistry.

 

Cape Verdian diva Cesária Évora did for morna what Celia Cruz did for salsa. Évora began singing the national music of Cape Verde as a teenager, but didn’t become a professional until mid-life, but she quickly made up for it releasing two albums a year for 20 years.

 

Music Details

MICHAEL CARR/ JIMMY KENNEDY/ JACK TENNEY: Mexicali Rose / South Of The Border - Mariachi los Camperos (‎SFW40582)
ELIGIO VALERA: Sahara - Angelique Kidjo (DECCA PROMOCELIA)
RAMON ARGOTE: Tu Voz - Celia Cruz (SONY 498544)
JOHN WILLIAMS: Hedwig's Theme - Anne-Sophie Mutter & John Williams (DG 479 7553)
OBEL: Fuel to Fire - Agnes Obel (PIAS  980028)
OBEL: Familiar - Agnes Obel (PIAS 404055)
GERSHWIN arr Heifetz: Summertime, from Porgy and Bess - Ray Chen (vln), Julien Quentin (pno) (Decca 483 3852)
ODERMATT: Summer, from Three Images Op 18 - Albrecht Mayer (ob), ASMF/Mathias Mönius (Decca 478 2564)
WATKINS, JAROSZ, O'DONOVAN: Call my Name - I'm With Her, (Rounder Records 1166100531)
FORCIONE/ ADEWALE/  KEITA: Choix De Joie - AKA trio (BENDIGEDIG PROMOJOY)
PEDRO GUERRA: Tiempo y Silencio - Cesária Évora and Pedro Guerra (Lusafrica 74321 836682)
LALO GUERRERO / NUNCAJAMAS: Bolero Medley - Mariachi los Camperos (SFW40582)