Search - Ersi Arvizu :: Friend for Life

Gorgeous Debut, Thirsty Years in the Making

Juan Mobili | Valley Cottage, NY USA | 06/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ersi Arvizu joins the rank of great people who finally get a chance to share their talent and passion with a wider audience You may think of Social Vista Social Club or Chavez Ravine--where she first worked with Ry Cooder and made a mark on my ears--although this album is different or even more stunning, if you compare it to those two, respectively.



Arvizu's life is not your typical singer's biography. Beginning to sing about thrity years ago, she made a mark in the budding East LA sound then but success never really followed. Actually, she never recorded an album of her own and became a boxer and then trainer to other fighters for part of the last three decades. It took Cooder's Chavez Ravine project to bring her to us, and we should all be grateful to Ry for this.



Ersi is an extraordinary singer, with a heart and range that many successful singers--female or male--ought to envy and learn from. If you heard her in "Muy Fifi" and "Sol y Sombra"--two great songs in Ravine--you already know this and might have been as happy as I was when I found that she recorded this gem.



Accompanied by Cooder, who also produced, and a host of superb musicians, Arvizu nails sensual, rocking tunes and gorgeous ballads with complete ease. Particular standous for me are the extremely moving "Mi India" that's dedicated to her father, "En El Tambo," "Cruisin' To The Hop," and "Sin Tu Querer." The rest is not far behind, by the way, and other songs can easily become your songs.



All in all, this is one the best albums of '08 and, perhaps, the most rewarding example of belated musical justice in a long time."