Hoy quiero presentaros una serie de cortes del repertorio de Jorge Drexler, un cantautor uruguayo y uno de mis compositores favoritos. Si bien hay un aspecto que me incomoda de él como es su relación con Leonor Watling (es broma...) su música es tremendamente rica y variada en estilos, y sus letras están cargadas de emoción y sentimiento, para recordarnos que un cantautor no siempre debe cantar a la lucha social. Merece la pena detenerse en sus textos aunque las composiciones que nos ofrece van mucho más allá de una voz y una guitarra, pudiendo encontrar incluso ritmos electrónicos.
Todos recordamos el momento de aquella ceremonia de entrega de los Oscar donde su canción Al otro lado del río, que aparecía en la banda sonora de la película de Gael García Bernal Diarios de motocicleta, resultó premiada con el galardón a la mejor canción:
Bien, después de este momento entre irónico, indignante y no sé qué más calificativos aportar...os dejo otras dos maravillosas canciones de este artista:
Este mes sale a la venta el último trabajo de esta artista canadiense, The olive and the cedar, una colección de sus piezas clásicas más relacionadas con la influencia mediterránea, más una serie de versiones en directo. Desafortunadamente no tenemos nuevo material de esta cantante que durante toda su carrera ha abarcado los más ricos y variados estilos de las músicas del mundo, utlizando instrumentos de múltiples culturas, sobre todo de la mediterránea y la celta, y con su inseparable arpa siempre nos ha ofrecido una música que trasciende lo meramente new age o música para escuchar y relajarse, ya que, sobre todo a raíz de la muerte de su prometido en 1998, Loreena se introdujo de lleno en el estudio de diferentes culturas como la árabe y de diferentes músicas en diversos períodos históricos a lo largo del tiempo, para ofrecer desde entonces una música que amalgama una serie de influencias que iban a otorgar una mayor profundidad y versatilidad a su estilo.
Mientras nos disponemos a escuchar el nuevo álbum de Loreena, os extraigo unos cortes de un concierto que dio en el Palacio de Carlos V de la Alhambra de Granada en 2006, el disco Nights from the Alhambra se publicó en 2007 y es una auténtica gozada, tanto el álbum como el DVD que editaron con él (y también es una gozada poder ver a la chelista Caroline LaVelle acompañándola en su banda). Espectacular...
En los últimos años han proliferado nuevos y grandes artistas en lo referente al jazz, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Madeleine Peyroux, Lizz Wright, Jamie Cullum, sin olvidarnos de Harry Connick Jr., aunque este último lleva algo más de tiempo deleitándonos con su voz. Pero tal vez el canadiense Michael Bublé sea el más afamado y carismático de todos ellos (sobre todo para el gran público), teniendo en cuenta su gran talento y por encima de todo su similitud con algunas otras grandes voces como la de Andy Williams y la de un tal Frank Sinatra.
Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good
Fish in the sea
You know how I feel
River running free
You know how I feel
Blossom on a tree
You know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That's what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Stars when you shine
You know how I feel
Scent of the pine
You know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
Of the world Spun by evil men with lies Only programmed to agree With what we see before our eyes Running after status quo On a television show Just a picture perfect life It’s the only life we know And this uncomfortable reality Got me chasing, chasing fallacy And the pace the pace is killing me But I so willingly practiced it Just like it’s my friend When the whole world is a hustle Exactly where did we arrive In this manufactured life to Sell my soul just to survive (yes) In the game of numbers I must thank the Gods of Industry oh for the opportunity or I display such loyalty oh for the way that they exploit me (yes) Oh to consider life outside of this Just like a splinter in My mind persists But the ministry of fear exists Only to keep me from knowing the truth Stealing my youth (oooh) When the whole world is a hustle Escape familiarity Means that I must face the fear in me And do something with this greed in me In order to address this need in me Oh but I must confess The pride I keep Protecting as if it’s my friend Oh, when will it end? When the whole world is a hustle To consider life Outside of this Just like a splinter in My mind persists. But the ministry of fear exists Only to keep me from knowing the truth. And it’s my excuse When the whole world is a hustle When it is, when it is. (Instrumental) Oh to escape this mere analogy Means I must face the fear in me And do something with this greed in me In order to address this need in me Oh but I must confess The pride I keep Protecting as if it’s my friend Until the bitter end When the whole of the world is a hustle Everybodys got it going on (yeah right, yeah right) Everybodys so damn strong (yeah right, yeah right) When the whole of the world is a hustle A hustle (x5) I must exercise my faith When the whole world is a hustle
Nació el 17 de noviembre del 66. Murió el 29 de mayo del 97. Tenía 30 años, era más joven que yo. Y cantaba como los ángeles...
Grace se publicó en 1994, y pocos discos debut han plasmado con tanta fuerza el alma y el carácter de un artista. Como una macabra premonición ante lo que ocurriría 3 años después, es como si Jeff supiera que sólo tenía esa oportunidad para sacar todo lo que tenía por ofrecernos, y en ese disco encontramos 10 pedazos, entre los que está Last Goodbye:
La voz de Jeff se la llevó el río Mississippi cuando preparaba el repertorio del que sería su segundo disco, que se publicó póstumamente en 1998, Sketches for my Sweetheart the Drunk, y realmente hay algunas canciones en las que parece que nos esté cantando desde otro lugar menos terrenal...
There's no easy answer, none to blame or forgive. Two cripples dancing to the end we live. I'm not with you, not of you. Not with you, not of you. You are soft and young to me I am the ghost who comes and goes And I hope I'll catch you in the throws Of one last look at the wonder, One last look at the wonder. Oh, God, I love you And all the past we once knew Some other love becomes you Whatever else we come to I know we could be so happy, baby If we wanted to be You are soft and young to me I am the ghost who comes and goes I'm hoping that I'll catch you in the throws Of one last look at the joy that we've become. But there's no easy answer, none to blame or forgive. We were two cripples dancing, to the bitter end we live. I'm not with you, but of you. I'm not with you, but of you. Oh, God, I loved you And all the past we once knew Some other love becomes you Whatever else it comes to I know we could be so happy, baby If we wanted to be We had a birthplace in common We had separate beds and lives. Just sit here and blow.... break out the oldest pictures and your ruined letters out to dry We had a birthplace in common We had separate beds and lives. I know we could be so happy, baby If we wanted to be I know we could be so happy, baby If we wanted to be Yeah, oh.
Pues sí, podríamos ser tan felices...si quisiéramos...
There's a hot hard hurt Burnin' under her skin And it pricks her like thorns And it's needles and pins And it twists in her body And I know what it is
And I'm paying in pain But it's the cost of the high 'Till the weight of the secret And the weight of the lie Makes my heart want to burst Feel the ache as time goes by Getting better and worse Getting better and worse And there's a screw that I tighten As I dream of the kiss And it twists and it cuts me And you know what it is? It's a fragment of love From a splintering heart And it tears her apart, yeah But not as much as this
So you save up your tears For the moments alone 'Till the splinters you gather Leave you glass-hard and numb And the same sun is shining On the old and the young On the saints and the sinners On the weak and the strong
And there's a burning and freezing And a cross for a kiss So she learns to stop dreaming And you know how it is With these fragments of love And this splintering heart With the fragments And this splintering heart
I said "Get it in gear, let me make just one thing clear." No-one told me, someone sold me. I said "Colour my mind, 'cause the questions hard to find." Won't you tell me, don't you sell me.
You got to hold your bullets, baby. You know I got a right to plead. You're about a rollin' mover honey, Living pretty as you please.
Won't you take off that disguise, I can't see it in your eyes. Where's the shelter, where's the shelter. Oh! I ain't no disgrace but you can see it in my face, It's gettin' better, gettin' better now.
You got to hold your bullets, baby. You know I got a right to plead. You're about a rollin' mover honey, Living pretty as you please.
You got to hold your bullets, baby. You know I got a right to plead. You're about a rollin' mover honey, Living pretty as you please.
Yeah-yeah-Hey-Yeah ! I said "Get it in gear." "Get it in gear." "Get it in gear." "Get it in gear." You're a rollin' mover honey. You know I got a right to plead. Living pretty as you please. Living pretty as you please, now. Living pretty as you please. Living pretty as you please, now.
