Search - Martirio :: Primavera En Nueva York

The lost "angel"

Joe Marr Tee | 04/12/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Having followed Martirio's career very closely in the last years because she's a very special performer, and for that I must confess beforehand that I gravitate toward her, it's hard for me to say that this time I think that she got herself in "camisa de 11 varas" (she bit more that she could chew).

These tracks are really extraordinary songs written decades ago by extraordinary Cuban songsmiths, and it is my humble opinion that something clipped the wings of Martirio's "angel" in this work.

Maybe the songs were too much for her, or too Cuban for her... or it could be that I had heard them before to other great singers: Elena Burke (Primera lluvia, Tengo, Me faltabas tu, No pidas imposibles), Lucy Fabery (Primera lluvia), the composer Ela O'Farrill and Pacho Alonso (Cosas que pasan), and the comparison was unavoidable... and negative to Martirio.

I listened over and over again the cd trying to find out why she sang mezza voce in most songs to the point that I almost couldn't hear her at times. I tried hard to find something good to say about her singing. Maybe she sang that way because she sang for herself. Who knows! But Martirio was almost a martirio for me this time. No drama, no poetry although some of the songs were strong and dramatic, and everyday poetry overflowed the lyrics she didn't milk to their potential.

To me the cd was big let down maybe because I moved heaven and earth to get it even before Amazon and local stores had it. It came out in Spain the day after I left Madrid.

However, there's a bright spot: the group that accompanied Martirio was A1, giving a superb lift to the tracks. Also, I do celebrate the initiative of the producers -and urge others to follow the example- in bringing into the light these beautiful and oh-so-well-made songs.

"