Spanish Steps
Listening Post 347. Walk from Tijuana to Tierra del Fuego singing in Spanish and everyone along the route will understand the lyrics, the 10,800 km (6,700 miles) between the two points constituting the longest more-or-less straight line in the world you can travel using a single language. Covering the music shared by Latin America and Spain is, of course, an encyclopedic task. But as impressionistic adventures go, Las historias que han dejado (The Stories Left Behind), Aguamadera’s third album, is remarkable: The duo of María Cabral and Marco Grancelli—formed in Buenos Aires, now based in Toulouse, France—covers an expansive range of music and dance styles, from Venezuelan joropo, merengue and gaita zuliana to Andean huayno; from Argentinian charango, chacarera and zamba to Peruvian waltz. The artists revitalize tradition with their sparkling solos, harmonies and arrangements, as well as new compositions for the old genres. They sing tales of joy and heartbreak, of drinking and prayer, and of characters—seamstress, blacksmith, peddler, peasant—in town and countryside, plus a noisy rooster who wins a court case. Almost every song involves coming, going or the sound of movement. Sad and lovely, Cuentapesares (Counting Sorrows, video 1), describes a sigh as it revolves endlessly; while No quiero más tu amor (I Don’t Want Your Love Anymore, video 2) is an anguished plea for a lover’s exit. El pregón de las flores (Floral Proclamation, video 3) follows an itinerant flower seller in search of buyers. The silky textures of a dressmaker’s creation trill as she walks in Teresita viste al baile (Teresita Dresses for the Dance, video 4). And in Huayno de sal, an exile traversing mountains and salterns witnesses the shadows of forgotten towns and hears “the whispers without a voice, the stories left behind” (video 5). In Aguamadera’s songs, past and present always walk in step. (Quart de Lune)
Aguamadera: Las historias que han dejado
Marco Grancelli: Vocals, guitar, cuatro (four-string guitar)
María Cabral: Vocals, cuatro, maracas
Elizabeth Morris: Vocals, backing vocals, flute, charangos, artistic director
Rally Barrionuevo: Guest vocals
Marta Gómez: Guest vocals
Solana Biderman: Bass
Mariano “Tiki” Cantero: Bombo, cajon, drums, percussion
Sebastian Luna: Mandolin
Emiliano Alvarez: Clarinet
Rafael Delgado: Cello
Ludivine Nebra: Charango
Valeria Curci: Backing vocals
Nuria Martinez: Quena, zampoña
Fernando Tapia: Guapeos
Nicolas Segovia: Charangos
Juan Abreu: Tambora
A sigh revolves infinitely in time/It goes into the street and sees the desert
And when I breathe until I am breathless/I feel the chains that weigh on my bones
Looking at the shadows they thought they knew/Their hushed voices that echoed
Who will be the witness that guards your body/When the marks of time are already dust?
Mute reflections/Splinter my soul
So many words lie empty/They become worlds
Sink into the air, turn gray in the sky/Disappear between thoughts
Tying myself to the flesh like one who ties himself to desire/Bite my lips in resentment
Mute reflections/Splinter my soul
So many words lie empty/They become worlds
Cry out in pain/Blood boils with thirst
Walk again/Carry the mark on my skin
Cry out in pain/Blood boils with thirst
Walk again/Carry the mark on the skin
No quiero más tu amor / I Don’t Want Your Love Anymore
Lyrics & music: Francisco Maceda
Leave me, I beg you please
I don’t want to see you anymore/Nor find you in my way
I don’t want your love anymore/Nor to know of your destiny
I don’t want your love anymore/Nor to know of your destiny
Leave me, leave me alone
I don’t care about the past/Nor the present of your life
You have damaged me so much/And my soul is lost
You have damaged me so much/And my soul is lost
Leave me, I beg you, pleading/I implore you, I beseech you
I have suffered enough/And love you again, I cannot
I have suffered enough/And love you again, I cannot
El pregón de las flores / Floral Proclamation
Lyrics & music: Rafael Salazar
I offer flowers/before they wither
I save the best of them/for the pretty girls
I carry flowers/in yellow, pink
Cut from the banks/of old singing rivers
I have roses, I have roses for the girls
Margaritas, margaritas for the pretty ones
I offer flowers/before they wither
I save the best of them/for the pretty girls
I’m offer flowers/in yellow, pink/
Cut from the banks/of old singing rivers
I have roses, I have roses for the girls
Poppies, poppies for those who are alone
I offer flowers/before they wither
I save the best of them/for the pretty girls
Orange blossoms, orange blossoms remove sorrows
I have roses, I have roses for the girls
I offer flowers/in yellow, pink
Cut from the banks/of old singing rivers
I offer flowers…
Teresita viste al baile / Teresita Dresses for the Dance
Lyrics & music: Marco Grancelli
Teresita Lopez stitches/between tulle and orange blossoms
A dress in fine silk, in fine silk/for her elegant dance
With lustrous embroidery/down the cobbled streets
She walks gracefully, Ay Teresita!/Her scarf an elegant accessory
They buzz and hum/the colorful skirts
Teresita dresses for the dance/Her harp-needle weaving melodies of love
Embroidered trills/Couples intertwine
Threads dancing/To the beat of her stitches
The scented dew/Bathes the arbor in dreams
And freshly ground coffee, freshly ground/Heralds the morning
The couples say goodbye/With promises of reunion
Teresita López returns, Ay Teresita!/Retracing her steps
They buzz and they hum/The colorful skirts
Teresita dresses for the dance/Harp-needle weaving melodies of love.
Embroidered trills/Couples intertwine
Threads dancing/To the beat of her stitches
Huayno de sal / Huayno of Salt
Lyrics: Marco Grancelli, Angel Hadziconstanti/Music: Marco Grancelli
The rain has stopped/The sun is out once more
Lighting up puddles of salt/And waking the damned
They say that time is oblivion/That the wind brings pain
The hills reflect a color/That will burn in your long exile
Blood and soil/Will water my heart
When the night awakes/A star-dyed blanket of salt
Will shine
The day has collapsed/Thistle, work and sweat
In the distance a drum is heard/And answers your call
Shadows of a forgotten town/Cloud the lantern’s light
They whisper without a voice/The stories left behind
Blood and soil/Will water my heart
When the night awakes/A star-dyed blanket of salt
Will shine
Blood and soil/Will water my heart…