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iLe
The Puerto Rican singer iLe does for bolero and other of the ritmos of the Caribbean what a handful of Portuguese and Argentinian singers have done for fado and tango: capturing the lush glory of the past while bringing it with ease and relevance into the present. At 28 years, she understands that its happinesses…
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Sofia Ribeiro
Hearing the Portuguese jazz singer Sofia Ribeiro last weekend at Cornelia Street Café was, for me, a real discovery. She is, to begin with, wonderful in front of an audience, good-naturedly self-effacing, bouyant and open in a way that wends its way through her personality and into her music. The most wistful and reflective of…
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Havana Rakatan
After the intermission, HAVANA RAKATAN moves inside, from the streets and waterfront locations evoked in the first act to a scenography of nightclubs and theatrical shows. It seems, suddenly and counter-intuitively, more authentic than it did before. Colorfully dressed farmers and urban workers, dancing in celebration of weddings, harvests, fiestas, might seem, on the surface,…
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Bésame mucho
BÉSAME MUCHO, which bears the subtitle “Latinas Sing Latinas,” and the further tagline, “Una antología musical de las más grandes compositoras latinoamericanas,” is substantial, even educational, in content, yet light and emotionally buoyant. Structurally it resembles Voces del tango, which I saw late last year from the same writer and conceiver, Pablo Zinger: four singers…
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Alexandra Castaño Trio
I used to go to the Anyway Café all the time, savoring the house-infused vodkas, excellent martinis made with same, Russian-French bistro food, and classic bohemian atmosphere. But for whatever reason, I fell out of the habit of going there. Until, that is, last Saturday, when the Alexandra Castaño Trio lured me in with several…