Recorded in Tarzana, California, the slow and romantic bolero genre anchors this album. All songs featured were pulled from Mexican native Armando Manzanero’scompositions spanning over a fifty year period. Winner of the 2014 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the music world owes much of the popularization of the bolero filin—a Cuban style that enhanced the traditional bolero with jazzier chords and vocal intepretations—to Manzanero, the premier Mexican composer of romantic music of the post-war era.
Ten time Grammy Award-winning Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval is most popularly known for his virtuosic improvisational ability and his flawless execution of musical acrobatics in the upper tessitura. Presenting his listeners with a reserved approach in Eternamente Manzanero, Sandoval continues to redefine his musical reputation. On this release, his role as principal vocalist is a surprising stretch and his interpretation of Armando’s carefully chosen repertoire is delightful. Most impressive is Arturo’s crooning ability and subtle trumpet adornment in “Voy a Apagar la Luz,” all transformed by the scrumptious string arrangements of Argentine composer, orchestrator, arranger and co-producer of the album Jorge Calandrelli. Projecting longing and loss in “Te Extraño,” pointed musical influence from the southern cone is heard through the use of the accordion. And for those that can’t get enough of the pop-jazz sound, “No Se Tu” is a definite must-listen.
Eternamente Manzanero can be described as a contemporary Latin-jazz album that unifies the vast experience and musical curiosity of three music giants of Latin America. A recommended purchase for lovers of jazz-pop fusion and fans of Manzanero, Sandoval, and Calandrelli.
