Magos Herrera: Transcending 'Distancia' In Song
Diana Krall currently holds down the top spot on Billboard's Jazz Albums chart with Quiet Nights, a collection of Brazilian tunes. Singer Magos Herrera is working similar territory, and doing so in an even more compelling way.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Krall's Quiet Nights. It's full of lush studio strings and yearning melodies — sultry mood music for a romantic sunset. Krall certainly caught every last detail.
But hers is just one approach. Magos Herrera didn't have Krall's budget: Her U.S. debut album Distancia was made with a small group of New York musicians in just a few days. What she does have is a great sense of understatement — that rare ability to shape a melody with slight, seemingly casual gestures.
There's a theme running through Distancia: Herrera selected tunes that express longing for a lover who's far away, and maybe gone forever. And that same idea is present in the poetic, astonishingly beautiful songs she wrote herself.
The Mexican-born Herrera sings in Spanish, English and Portuguese. But really, what she does on Distancia transcends language. Blending elements from various traditions, she's stretching the very notion of jazz singing, pushing past the diva pleasantries into a sound that's bold, thrilling and effortlessly global.
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- Distancia by Magos Herrera
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Right now, at the top of Billboard's jazz albums chart, you'll find Diana Krall.
(Soundbite of song, "Quiet Nights")
Ms. DIANA KRALL (Singer): (Singing) Quiet nights of quiet stars, quiet chords from my guitar.
SIEGEL: That's from "Quiet Nights," Krall's collection of Brazilian tunes. Our critic Tom Moon recently encountered a Mexican jazz singer who is working in territory similar to Diana Krall. You might not be seeing Magos Herrera top the charts yet, but Tom Moon says what she's doing is even more compelling than Diana Krall.
TOM MOON: There's absolutely nothing wrong with Diana Krall's "Quiet Nights." It's got the lush studio string, the yearning melody. It's sultry mood music for a romantic sunset.
(Soundbite of song, "Quiet Nights")
Ms. KRALL: (Singing) This is where I want to be, here with you so close to me…
MOON: Krall caught every last detail, that's for sure, but hers is just one approach. Listen to the way the virtually unknown Magos Herrera sings a tune by the same composer, the great Antonio Carlos Jobim.
(Soundbite of music)
Ms. MAGOS HERRERA (Singer): (Singing in foreign language)
MOON: Herrera didn't have the Diana Krall budget. Her record, "Distancia," was made with a small group of New York musicians in just a few days. What she does have is a great sense of understatement, that rare ability to shape a melody with slight, seemingly casual gestures.
(Soundbite of music)
Ms. HERRERA: (Singing in foreign language)
MOON: There's a theme running through "Distancia": Herrera selected tunes that express longing for the lover who's far away and maybe gone forever, and that same idea is present in the poetic, astonishingly beautiful songs she wrote herself. Here's one of her originals.
(Soundbite of music)
Ms. HERRERA: (Singing in foreign language)
MOON: Mexican-born Magos Herrera sings in Spanish, English and Portuguese. But really, what she does on "Distancia" transcends language. Blending elements from various traditions, she's stretching the very notion of jazz singing, pushing past the diva pleasantries into a sound that's bold and thrilling and effortlessly global.
(Soundbite of music)
Ms. HERRERA: (Singing in foreign language) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
