...is Las Rosas No Hablan, a Spanish-language version of As Rosas Não Falam by Cartola, performed by the Melissa Aldana Quartet featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant. This ballad appears on the Chilean saxophonist's 2026 album Filin.
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Melissa Aldana: tenor saxophone Gonzalo Rubalcaba: piano Peter Washington: double bass Kush Abadey: drums Cécile McLorin Salvant: vocals |
This year started with lots of rain, so it would be appropriate to open the season with Il pleut sur la route, a 1935 tango composed by Henry Himmel and Robert Champfleury and made famous by Tino Rossi. I fist heard it when I was a child and had no clue what language it was sung in. Somebody said it was an "Argentine tango", so I thought it could be in "Argentinian language".
90 years later, Il pleut sur la route is an undisputed classic and is as Argentine as it gets. Just ask Chicos de Pampa (チコス・デ・パンパ).
...is Itziarren semea, a 1975 song by the Basque duo Pantxoa eta Peio on the lyrics by Telesforo Monzón. I first heard this song in the recent concert of Jumelage & Familia Euskaló.
...is Sol de Luna Llena by Rebecca Roger Cruz, from the Venezuelan singer's gorgeous debut album Río Abajo.
Juri Cainero: percussion Léonore Grollemund: cello Sylvain Rabourdin: violin Rebecca Roger Cruz: lead vocals |
...is Ahora by Line Kruse feat. Daymé Arocena, from the Danish-French violinist 2019 album Invitation.
...is Tania by Ana Tijoux, a tribute to the singer's late sister. This song appears on Vida, the first album of Tijoux in ten years.
...is Sola by La Chica featuring the fantastic Sandra Nkaké, from Live at Le Café de la Danse, Paris (2023).
...is Funky by Harold López-Nussa, from his new album Timba a la Americana.
Ruy Adrián López-Nussa: drums Grégoire Maret: harmonica Luques Curtis: double bass Bárbaro "Machito" Crespo: congas |
...is Cuéntamelo by Luis de la Carrasca, from his new album Baró Drom.
| Luis de la Carrasca: cante Jérôme Boudin-Clauzel, Antonio Paz: piano José Luis Dominguez, Manuel Gomez: guitars Olivier Lalauze: double bass François Taillefer, Domingo Moreno: percussion |
...is La Lloroncita (Mexican son jarocho) performed by Diana Baroni. This song appears on the Argentine singer and musician's new album Mujeres.
| Diana Baroni: vocal Ronald Martin Alonso: viola da gamba Rafael Guel Frias: baroque guitar |
...is Rezo a la Luna by Parranda La Cruz, from the Lyon-based vocal and percussion quartet's eponymous album. Once again, I learned about them thanks to Songlines.
...is Mala Mía by Sol Pereyra in duet with La Dame Blanche. This song opens Pereyra's brand new (released yesterday!) album La Película.
...is A escondidas by ¿Who's the Cuban?, a French group that "mixes the essence of Cuban music with hints of rock, pop and psychedelia". This song appears on the band's new album Pafata.
Thibaut Chipot: drums, percussion Olivier Duranton: keyboards, backing vocals Cédric Geremia: guitar Olivier Herrmann: bass Carl Lelonge: trombone Dayron Ramirez Hernandez: lead vocals, backing vocals, trumpet |
...is Por Qué Ou Ka Fè Sa featuring Brenda Navarrete and David Walters, from the new all-star album Estrellas by Guts. From the Songlines review:
This is a glorious album that was never supposed to happen. Fabrice Henri, the French hip-hop producer better known as Guts, had planned to record in Cuba. But COVID restrictions made that impossible so he flew the Cuban musicians to Dakar, and invited Senegalese stars to join the sessions, along with his own musicians from Europe. Twenty-five artists from three continents were involved, and in 15 days they recorded this 17-track set. The result is like a more funky, updated version of the original Buena Vista concept, and it works because the great cast were clearly enjoying themselves.
...is Guanabacoa by Ana Carla Maza Quartet.
Fidel Fournneyron: trombone Ana Carla Maza: cello, vocal Vincent Peirani: accordion |
...is Canto del Pilón by Sophie Fustec aka La Chica. This song appears on the Franco-Venezuelan singer's 2019 album Cambio.
...is Los Glaciares by Paris-based El Búho (Robin Perkins), from his 2021 album Natura Sonora. El Búho says:
Los Glaciares is a national park found in Argentina at the southern tip of the Andes mountains where three glaciers meet. It is a land of blues and white, of snow-capped mountains and glacial lakes. This track was built around the sound of avalanches and rockfall from the melting glacier and features a collaboration with Argentine musicians Manu Quintans (flutes) and Fede Estevez (percussion).
Georges Mayer Dahan, better known as Georgie Dann, "el rey de la canción del verano", died yesterday in Madrid at the age of 81. One of his summer hits, Casatschok (1969), is a Spanish-language version of the French song by Rika Zaraï, in its turn based on the Soviet patriotic song Katyusha.
