The Lost Days: Music in the Latin Style

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
While it's tempting to call acclaimed diva Denyce Graves's exploration of Latin classical influences a crossover project, that label's pop lightweight connotations don't do justice to the powerful, often uncompromising performances contained herein. Indeed, Graves leans heavily on her collaborators (who include contemporary composers-arrangers-pianists Chucho Valdes, Eliane Elias, and Jose Maria Vitier, as well as arranger-pianist Pablo Ziegler) for both material and stylistic inspiration, creating a collection that's more concerned with true musical synthesis than it is with commercial exploitation. Even the works of Latin classical standard-bearers like Argentina's Carlos Guastavino, Brazil's Villa-Lobos, and Tango master Astor Piazzolla are cast in stark, contemporary arrangements that underscore both Graves's dramatic mezzo voice and the dusky, rhythmically charged dynamics of her quartet of confederates. Cuban great Valdes composed "Romanza de Denyce" especially for the project, further blurring the collection's boundaries between jazz, classical, and pop. If the listener is only familiar with the better-known Latin classical repertoire, this collection may open up some inviting new horizons. --Jerry McCulley

The Lost Days: Music in the Latin Style, Music, Jay Elfenbein, Pablo Aslan, Leo Grinhauz, Paquito D'Rivera, Eliane Elias, Carlos Guastavino, Astor Piazzolla, Jesus "Chucho" Valdes, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Jose Maria Vitier, Satoshi Takeishi, Marco Granados, Susan Palma, Denyce Graves, John Amira, Memo Acevedo, Eliane Elias, Jesus "Chucho" Valdes, José María Vitier, Pablo Ziegler, Nick Danielson, 20th/21st Century Music for Voice and Keyboard, Chamber, Chamber Music, Classical, Classical Artists, Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Miscellaneous Vocal Music, Opera, Tango, Vocal, Vocal Music

The Lost Days: Music in the Latin Style
Average customer rating:

Sensual, Spellbounding, and sheerly Sexy!!!

Haunting, bewitching: a real must have

Una voz opulenta

The Lost Days: Music in the Latin Style
Denyce Graves
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000071WDT
Release Date: 2003-01-21

Tracks:

Yo Soy Maria
Soledad
Los pajaros perdidos
Haabia-Tupi
Plancha
Al alba, el bosque
Cancao do poeta do seculo XVIII
Los dias perdidos
Habanera de Lorraine
Estrella e lua nova
Plomada
Milonga sin palabras
Romanza de Denyce
Te vas de mi

Amazon.com

While it's tempting to call acclaimed diva Denyce Graves's exploration of Latin classical influences a crossover project, that label's pop lightweight connotations don't do justice to the powerful, often uncompromising performances contained herein. Indeed, Graves leans heavily on her collaborators (who include contemporary composers-arrangers-pianists Chucho Valdes, Eliane Elias, and Jose Maria Vitier, as well as arranger-pianist Pablo Ziegler) for both material and stylistic inspiration, creating a collection that's more concerned with true musical synthesis than it is with commercial exploitation. Even the works of Latin classical standard-bearers like Argentina's Carlos Guastavino, Brazil's Villa-Lobos, and Tango master Astor Piazzolla are cast in stark, contemporary arrangements that underscore both Graves's dramatic mezzo voice and the dusky, rhythmically charged dynamics of her quartet of confederates. Cuban great Valdes composed "Romanza de Denyce" especially for the project, further blurring the collection's boundaries between jazz, classical, and pop. If the listener is only familiar with the better-known Latin classical repertoire, this collection may open up some inviting new horizons. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Sensual, Spellbounding, and sheerly Sexy!!!.......2006-07-10

Denyce's warm and sensual Mezzo voice is truly spectacular when she sings the right rep. This latin album is literally right up her lane. She brings a dark color to the pieces that accentuates the text and the instrumentation. The singing is remarkably beautiful and the musicians play with an entrancing groove that makes you feel warm all over. I recommend just listening to this album while sitting outside in a park on a warm and sunny day. I believe that you will see the world completely differently. Way to go Denyce!!!

Haunting, bewitching: a real must have.......2003-11-27

This record is exquisite in all its elements: the Voice of Graves -voice with a capital V!-, the selections, the arrangements! For me it would take hours to try to decipher its mystery of seduction. A real must for those who love poetry, music and the marriage of both. A real must for lovers of Latin American music. A real must for the senses.
The first time I listened to the cd, it gave a jolt.
A lot has been said about Graves. She's a wonderful mezzo, with that rich black timbre in her low notes and her lovely lyric high ones. And never mind the language, she knows how to create magic around her.
However, although she's supposed to be the main attraction here, to me the composers steal the show from her.
I've been listening to good music, from opera to streetside, for decades now. And I had never heard anything like Plancha or Plomada, by Guastavino. They're simply astounding.
The Cubans come out very well. Their songs are simply irressistible. They own the gift of melody and harmony. Soledad is unforgettable.
But what haunts me the most is Milonga sin palabras. What a piece of art!

Una voz opulenta.......2003-01-31

Denyce Graves es una mezzo de voz carnosa, sensual, evocadora. En este disco de canciones en español y en portugués, la cantante hace lujo de una voz opulenta, muy femenina y de gran pasión. Las canciones están muy bien escogidas y los arreglos son de muy buen gusto. Desde mi perspectiva, la mezzo está más cómoda con el material en español, que resulta ser dominante en el disco, y la dicción es muy clara, lo que es admirable en una cantante de origen e idioma tan separados de la cultura latina. Sin embargo, aunque la dicción es muy clara, la principal falla de esta grabación es también el idioma mismo. Denyce Graves de pronto inicia con un español más que deseable y luego, de pronto, se atropella, dejándo una sensación de insatisfacción en el oyente; pensemos en "Los pájaros perdidos" (uno de los puntos más fuertes del disco) que empieza con una claridad y belleza admirables, que luego, en la parte central de la canción, se pierden cuando la cantante da algunos tropiezos con las palabras. Lo mismo ocurre con la primera pista de "Maria de Buenos Aires": en algunos pasajes la voz es muy clara, pero conforme adquiere fuerza y velocidad, se evidencia el trabajo no resuelto del idioma... pero a esto cabría agregar, a manera de disculpa, que lo mismo ocurre con las cantantes hispanas de ópera...

El disco muestra material conocido y añade algunas canciones prácticamente inéditas (donde se incluye una compuesta para la cantante), y en términos generales, Denyce Graves sale muy bien librada.

Francamente yo recomiendo mucho este disco, más que por otra cosa, por el lujo de escuchar una voz tan opulenta y seductora haciéndose cargo de estas canciones.

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