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  Marta Topferova
La Marea [The Tide] (World Village 468040, 2005)
I had never heard of
Marta
Topferova until recently when I received an e-mail about the artist from her
publicist and on the same day, I turned on a Seattle-based public radio station
and heard Marta's suave vocals gracing the airwaves. Her story is of interest
too. Born in the Czech Republic and trained as a classical musician, Marta
discovered Latin music as a child. Her family moved to
Seattle, Washington in the 1980's while was ensconced her in teen years. She
sang in the Seattle Girls' Chorus for four years and then took off for
New York City where she continued her musical training at Bard College. It
was during this time that she began taking guitar playing seriously, although
she would later switch the the Venezuelan lute, cuatro (a small 4-stringed
instrument with a jangly sound). She also began researching folkloric recordings
from all over Latin America.
I admit when I first heard Marta's vocals backed by Latin American harp and
other Latin American instrumentation, I pictured a middle-age woman vocalist,
possessing the physique of a jazz dame. So I was surprised when I received her
CD,
La Marea in the mail. The vocalist that graces the cover is fey, almost
elfish and there's even one photograph on the cover that I mistook for a young
girl (back cover of the booklet). But I just love these types of paradoxes and
little surprises. Here is a woman that has studied flamenco in the heart of
Spain's Andalusia, studied trova and son in Cuba and also studied folkloric
music in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
She returned to New York in 1996 where she immersed herself in the Colombian
and Venezuelan community while brushing up on such musical styles as vals, gaita,
merengue and later joropos. All of this and her love of poetry, (she cites
Spain's Federico Garcia Lorca as an influence), surface on her most recent
recording which blends Latin jazz with Latin folkloric rhythms and instruments.
It's not the same old story and this recording is something special.
Her musical style is similar to Colombian vocalist-composer
Marta
Gómez in that it's laid back, yet elegant and seductive. This recording
features a trio, Colombian Edmar Castañeda on harp, whose talent really shines
on Limonera (lemon tree), and inventive drummer Chris Eddleton. They bring in a
host of fabulous musicians and even a French horn which comes as another
surprise, yet the instrument seems at home on this recording as does the Czech
vocalist singing Latin folkloric music in Spanish. The sultry set of songs are
carefully arranged while allowing plenty of room for flute, horn or harp solos.
The music falls closer to South American than Caribbean music, but it's probably
best not to pigeon hole Marta's repertoire. Her poetry which sounds gorgeous in
her adopted language travels straight to the heart. I often enjoy nature as a
metaphor for daily angst or joy and the poetry here is no exception.
The delightful instrumental La Gaita Ajana brings in flute, accordion, acoustic
bass, cuatro and percussion. One of the most intriguing songs on the CD is
Nevada Mañana where Edmar's harp is transformed into bossa nova guitar which is
embellished by Marta's restraint vocals, Chris Komer's sensual French horn and
Chris Eddleton on kit drums. Marta shows a great deal of whimsical talent in her
careful arrangements and the musicians on this recording employ a great deal of
creative spirit as they splash unusual colors onto Marta's musical canvas. The
songs might appear light and subtle at first, but when given a thorough listen,
the songs sparkle like precious gems. The tide (in the CD title) has brought
manna to the shore.
Marta Topferova and her band are currently on tour. Visit the World Village site
for details.
This review is compliments of Cranky
Crow World Music
[Buy
La
Marea and
Sueño Verde].
Read an alternate review:
Czech These Latin Sounds
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