published: 2 /
12 /
2010
Label:
Fire Records
Format: CD
Surprisingly traditional acoustic arrangements by folk musician Josephine Foster and her partner Victor Herrero of songs collected by famous Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca
Review
Josephine Foster likes having her way with the work of poets and composers. On earlier albums she’s interpreted German lieder and set the poems of Emily Dickinson to music. For ‘Anda Jaleo’, she and her significant other Victor Herrero have made a live recording of ‘Las Canciones Populares Espanoias’. The popular Spanish tunes were collected by famed Republican poet Federico Garcia Lorca and performed by him (mostly on piano) along with dancer Encarnacion Lopez Julvez, a.k.a. La Argentinita.
The first thing the ears of Foster fans will note is that the Victor Herrero Band is that it’s acoustic - you won’t find any of the acid dabs and departures from the diatonic path of his work on her earlier albums that so ably matched her off-kilter vocal excursions.
On most of the tracks, Foster’s fluting, quavering voice is accompanied solely by Herrero’s energetically strummed acoustic and some light percussion - handclaps or clappers here, some scraper there as o “Los Pelegrinitos’.
Herrero does dig in for some biting fingerpicking on ‘Las Morillas de Jaen, while the title track sports a stately thumping drum and laid-back vocal accompaniment by Herrero.
‘Las Tres Hojas' sets a more sprightly pace with some tumbling background male singers to echo Foster higher pitch. The guitars get to take centre stage with some fierce strumming and picking while Foster takes a more conversational tone.
Fans of traditional folk music should enjoy ‘Anda Jaleo’, whether or not they speak Spanish, but Foster’s less well-behaved fans may find she’s not taking many of the risks that excited them.
Track Listing:-
1
Los Cuatro Muleros
2
Los Pelegrinitos
3
Las Morillas De Jaén
4
Anda Jaleo
5
Las Tres Hojas
6
Los Mozos De Monleón
7
Sevillanas Del Siglo
8
Los Reyes De La Baraja
9
El Café De Chinitas
10
Zorongo
11
Nana De Sevilla
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