Un Canto Por Mexico Vol.1

Emerging from sabbatical at the end of 2019, Mexican singer and songwriter Natalia Lafourcade and friends performed a benefit concert for the restoration of Centro de Documentacion del Son Jarocho (CDSJ) a musical and arts space in Jaltipan, Veracruz founded by Ricardo Perry and the band Los Cojolites. The CDSJ also serves as a repository for information about the areas native son-Jarocho musical style, which fuses the traditions of pre-Columbian regional cultures with the diasporic son of Spain and Africa. Damaged during Mexicos 5.4 earthquake in 2017, Lafourcade performed a three-hour sold-out concert in November 2019 that featured Jorge Drexler, Mon Laferte, Carlos Rivera, Pepe Aguilar, Los Cojolites, Cafe Tacuba, Panteon Rococo, Emmanuel del Real, and others. Un Canto por Mexico, Vol. 1 attempts to re-create the feel of that show in a recording studio. A second volume will follow later this year. The material is chock-full of Lafourcades songs as well as traditional and classic material, performed by a large mariachi orchestra and chorus directed by Nando Hernandez and produced and arranged by Kiko Campos. The set opens with a stellar medley of Jose Pablo Moncayos standard El Balaju, and Pedro Infantes Serenata Huasteca, with the orchestra and Los Cojolites setting the alternately romantic and celebratory feel of the proceedings. Rivera appears next, reprising his duet role from Lafourcades Musas album on the track Mexicana Hermosa. Veracruz is another beloved standard penned by Augustin Lara. It was originally intended for inclusion on 2013s Mujer Divina, but left off at the last minute. The lilting strings, jazzy, muted trumpet, and hand percussion create a dreamy foreshadowing of Lafourcades gorgeous mariachi waltz Una Vida, a brand-new song. The version of Hasta La Raiz here features a union of Los Cojolites with Argentine Latin ska band Los Autenticos Decadentes. The sprightly yet aching paean to an absent lover was delivered originally as a duet with Leonel Garcia. Instead he appears on a glorious reading of Juan Gabriels sensual Ya No Vivo Por Vivir. Its arrangement -- with prominent strings, jazz phrasing, and aching, entwined voices -- recalls Frank and Nancy Sinatras on Something Stupid a bit. Drexler returns to assist in delivering a true set highlight: the sultry, romantic meld of jazz and bolero Para Que Sufrir. Cafe Tacubas Emmanuel del Real duets on the luxuriant corrido Lo Que Construimos. Mexican ska heroes Panteon Rococo back Lafourcade on the dramatic anthem Un Derecho de Nacimiento, heightened by the sweeping mariachi orchestra. Set-closer Cucurrucucu Paloma is another Infante classic which he originally delivered in the 1954 Rogelio Gonzalez film Escuela de Vagabundos. Lafourcade reinvents the ballad as a tender pop ranchera. While this volume of Canto por Mexico is offered as a benefit recording, it is wonderfully representative of Lafourcades late-2010s work that has focused deeply on Mexicos musical traditions. Highly recommended. ~ Thom Jurek