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Copyright Jazz Now, October 2004 issue, all rights reserved
jazznow@sbcglobal.net Haybert K. Houston, Publisher Editor in Chief, Jazz Now
Maria Marquez, vocals; and artists too numerous to mention.
Maria Marquez, Venezuelan born, but based for many years in Oakland, California, gives us a CD that is the flip side of what we are accustomed to hearing in Latin music. She takes us through shifting scenes, pastoral glades, and the shadows follow. The CD contains more than its fair share of sadness, "Es Decir" (It is to Say)' that I must spend my life waiting for you to look at me.' Moods and tempos shift constantly.
Maria, who studied Jazz for five years at Berklee College of Music, has a rich, tender and sympathetic sound, her voice is clear and seems to come from somewhere deep within. "Besame Mucho" (Kiss Me A Lot), has a mixture of organ sound, a nicely plucked guitar and the deep mumbling of a sousaphone, as Maria sings a fear-tinged love song with pining clarity. It gets even worse with "Alma Adentra" (Soul Inside) on which she plaintively sings of failed love, 'And at night my heart calls for you' Apart from a song from Puerto Rico and one from Mexico, these are all Venezuelan songs. Slow, lilting, richly melancholic; supported by over thirty excellent musicians, it is a heartfelt wander down a tree-lined avenue of the soul, wrestling with the illusive transience of love. This is one for a special mood.
by Ferdinand Maylin
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Jazz Now Interactive
Copyright Jazz Now, October 2004 issue, all rights reserved
jazznow@sbcglobal.net
Haybert K. Houston, Publisher Editor in Chief, Jazz Now
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