Some of the most popular exponents of the Peruvian vocal sound have been odd ones, indeed, and Yma Sumac (1922-2008) certainly fits that bill! The running joke is that she was secretly a Jewish woman (spell her name backwards), but she did have an exotic, uncanny tone to her voice (and an enormous range). Her mystique was perhaps abetted by costume work that hinted at a Hollywoodian take of Egyptian…
Read MoreContinuing our focus on Afro-Peruvian culture, for my third blog, we turn to the work of folklorist, poet, and musician Nicomedes Santa Cruz (1925-1992). In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the life of this amazing and multi-faceted advocate who did so much to advance recognition of black Peruvians.
Read MoreFor my second featured blog, I’d like to continue the thread of female Peruvian composer-singers (begun with Chabuca Granda yesterday) and go to Eva Ayllón, another proponent of Afro-Peruvian culture. This video excerpt from one of Eva’s more glamorous and cosmopolitan live performances is a great example of fusion and modernity both.
Read MoreIt is a real pleasure to be working with the marvelous musicians and staff of the New York Festival of Song! I’m happy to be a guest blogger this week, sharing my love of music and the human voice with readers, and will start off with a gentle yet quietly powerful bang: La Flor de la Canela (Cinnamon Flower) composed and performed by Chabuca Granda (1920-1983)
Read More“Two short years” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Ted Chapin introduced me to this song, I believe, many years ago. Just the most absolutely perfect, wise and complete lyric I have ever sung:
Read More“The Fall,” the finale of Queen of the Mist. I am biased, because this musical was written for me, but I cannot listen to it without crying buckets. Queen is by Michael John LaChiusa, and as far as I am concerned, he is a genius.
Read More“Sometimes It Snows in April.” Prince. My heart broke the day Prince died. Such a genius. This is another wise, sad song. I love it so much, it is on my album, Have Faith with Micheal Starobin. (Shameless plug).
Read MoreTony Bennett singing “Here’s That Rainy Day” by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen. Nobody loves a sad song more than me. Exquisite. And nobody does what Tony Bennett does. Nobody.
Read More“Daybreak” by Adam Guettel from Floyd Collins. I must have listened to this at least 800 times. To my ear, it is a spectacularly sad song, which I love, and Christopher Innvar and Jason Danieley’s performances are heartbreaking.
Read MoreJews liken the oral and written tradition to an ever-living, ever-flourishing source of inspiration. The text of “Eitz Chayim” is always sung when returning the Torah scrolls to the ark, along with a prayer to “renew our days as of old.” The late composer, teacher and scholar Dr. Jack Gottlieb wrote his setting of it for the 1970 New Year’s Service for Young People and dedicated the piece to Cantor Barbara Ostfeld, the first woman to be ordained a cantor.
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