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"Rhodopa" -- Bulgarian Folksongs in Jazz by Hristo Vitchev and Liubomir Krastev

9/15/2013

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After Hristo Vitchev’s brilliant previous release “Familiar Fields” with a quartet, he turns his incredible interpretive guitar-craft and arranging skills to a duo setting with clarinetist Liubomir Krastev. With an audience longing for more collaboration with Weber Iago (piano), Don Robbins (bass) and Mike Shannon (drums) Hristo boldly departs from the group setting and gives the audience even more of what they crave—soulful arrangements and virtuosity with heart.

They have been releasing singles from the now-completed album over the last several months and the result is a heightened sense of anticipation for the release date.

The album “Rhodopa” is a collection of Bulgarian folklore and modern Jazz. The title is taken from a mountain range in Bulgaria named for the myth recorded by Plutarch and Ovid of the Queen of Thrace and her husband Haemus, a proud king who called the two of themselves Hera and Zeus, thus offending the king and queen of the Olympian gods who transformed the two into mountains.

“Thracian Mount Rhodope and Mount Haemus, now icy peaks, once mortal beings who ascribed the names of the highest gods to themselves.” (Ovid, Metamorphoses 6:87-89)

So now they stand, separate peaks denied embrace forever, always seeing the other but never touching. This is indeed theme of the album; loved ones isolated by duty and distance, by chance and by choice.


And begins the first song of this touching album entitled “Devoiko Mari Hubava” [Beautiful Young Lady]. It is a traditional Bulgarian folksong and speaks of duty and separation. A young soldier is coming to speak to his lover of his duty and his worry that he has not prepared a home for marriage. She also tells him of her own duties that she is preparing a hope chest for marriage. But their true problem is deeper still.

 The unsung lyrics (translated from the Bulgarian) are:

 “O pretty girl
Pour me some wine
Wine and white rakija

So we can drink

Tell me your problem
Whose problems are greater?

Crazy hero, and young

My problem is greater
Because I have clothes [a Hope Chest] to make.

My problem is greater, girl

Because I have [military] duties to perform
Because I don’t have a home built.

My problem is greater

Because never will we be together.”

The song begins with Hristo’s walking pace guitar, as if he is approaching the young woman. Liubomir’s clarinet recalls the flowing of wine and the two instruments begin the heart-breaking dialogue until the guitar walks away in a final distancing from the plaintive clarinet. Sweet and sad.



This extraordinary understanding and interpretation of the folkloric tunes are close to the heart of these musicians. They do not fail in carrying the emotion, devotion and affection of the Bulgarian music and presenting it with such delicate taste to us who have not heard these songs before.

Another of the traditional Bulgarian songs is “Oblache Le Bialo” [Little White Cloud] with another beautiful arrangement by Hristo. The piece opens with the floating of the clarinet as the cloud coming overhead to the son who is far away from home. In the folksong, the singer asks the cloud if it came from flying over father’s garden and hearing from mother’s voice. The cloud is then told to return to mother and tell her that her son will be coming back someday to hug his dear mother.

Hristo’s guitar is determined and compelling as the earthbound voice speaking to the fanciful cloud of Liubomir’s clarinet. It is filled with longing and the cry of absence.

In the third track, Hristo opens with solemn piano chords followed by the supplication of the clarinet. It is entitled “Silent Prayer” and is an original composition of Hristo’s. As a gentle guitar is introduced, the supplication gives way to thanksgiving and the solemn chords are carried aloft by the guitar and clarinet.

Liubomir moves from hymn to jazz and back to hymn in a progression that is wondrously revealing of the nature of prayer and meditation. The final piano chords, touched with the sweet guitar and the joyous clarinet create a sound of fulfillment that is indeed worthy of heaven.

“Improvisation #1” is a melancholy piece that echoes eastern modes and yet adds a western Jazz sense that creates an intriguing dialogue of cultures and musical sensibilities. Liubomir’s clarinet sounds like his playing the entire family of clarinets instead of just the one. One a technical scale, Liubomir’s skill allows him to move away from any limits of key-range with no difficulty.

Once again, Hristo has picked exactly the right musician for the project at hand. This is a true collaboration of like-minded virtuosi. Liubomir Krastev never comes off as a side-man and Hristo never pushes Krastev into that role. Hristo willingly and often surrenders the spotlight.

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“Blues for Clever Peter” is Hristo’s second original composition on the album. It is captivating jazz with a great opening from a happy guitar and joined by the highly entertaining voice of the clarinet. The listener is drawn into the pure delight of the moment, especially at the :55 mark when Liubomir’s raw clarinet brings a quick smile that holds throughout the remainder of the piece.

Hristo’s steady and optimistic guitar strumming is almost more bluegrass than blues until he takes the lead at 4:11 and turns in some of his most bluesy jazz heard yet. The interplay between the two musicians create something worthy to accompany a Winnie-the-Pooh story and I mean that in the best possible way.

From that we are taken to another traditional Bulgarian piece entitled “Lale Li Si, Zyumbiul Li Si” [Are You a Tulip, Are You a Hyacinth]. The imagery is pastoral and restful. It is contemplative and nostalgic. This is the song to stop one in their own tracks and let images come to mind as they may. It is a question posed to everyone as to who we are.

It was a question that Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked of himself while in a Nazi prison. In his poem “Who Am I?,” Bonhoeffer wrote: “Who am I? This or the other?/Am I one person today and tomorrow another?”

It is the question put before a flower in the folksong but Hristo puts the question to us in this heartfelt and penetrating arrangement. “Are you a tulip, are you a hyacinth?” Once again, the album’s continued theme of separation is that we are often cut off from our own sense of self-identity.


“Improvisation #2” begins with a raw clarinet quickly accompanied by the flamenco-esque guitar which comes and goes all-too-quickly.

“Polegnala e Todora” [Todora Took a Nap] is a rather scolding number about a young woman asleep beneath an olive tree. The north wind blew and snapped off an olive branch that fell and awoke Todora from her sweet dream of her first love coming to her with a bouquet and a wedding ring. Again, separation from love and even the dream of love.

The mood of this piece, however, is a bit more comical than all the rest and Hristo and Liubomir indulge themselves fully in the fun. The sound of reproach of the north wind is certainly there but the anger (or mock-anger) is carried along festively.

“Hubava Si Moia Goro” [You are Beautiful, My Forest] is another traditional Bulgarian folksong with lyrics from a poem by Lyuben Karavelov. The poem and its song speak of the beauty of a forest and the scent of youth. The saddest person is the one who only sees a forest once without seeing the renewed beauty of each spring. “Under cold and under snow new life arises.”

The melancholy of the forest’s beauty is that it will succumb to the frost and, even though it will be reborn, it will be with different flowers and grasses and lambs. It is the sadness of not being able to enter the same forest twice (to paraphrase a line from Zen).

It is that sweet melancholy that engages this song, indeed this whole album. The lyricism of Vitchev’s approach enhances the delicacy of the subject of these traditional songs from Bulgaria’s folklore. His watercolor imagery is as fluid as that medium. Krastev’s articulation and intonation are in perfect harmony.

The album’s ending is to the sound of Liubomir’s clarinet and Hristo’s guitar fading as into a forest. It is the sound of being pulled farther and farther from home and family and perhaps this is the separation that runs from start to finish on this magnificent musical experience.


There is a beauty and an elegance that comes through on each and every one of Hristo Vitchev's recordings. The music he composes, the arrangements he crafts, the musicians that he assembles together and the dignity and reverence of his musicianship speak of the heart of the man and his love of life.
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An Interview with Berta Rojas...Absolutely Wonderful

9/12/2013

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In 2012 I reviewed Berta Rojas’ jazz album “Dia y Medio.” It remains one of my favorite albums of all time. It was also nominated for Best Instrumental Jazz Album at the XIII Latin Grammy Awards.

When she released “Salsa Roja” in August (2013), I knew I wanted to review it and interview her. This album is classified as classical guitar. What follows is my interview of this charming, sensitive and immensely talented guitarist.

TR: The world of classical guitar has been dominated by men. The names one immediately considers are Segovia, Bream, Parkening, etc. What is it that you bring to that world?

Berta: I think it is to not just go with genre. You need to gain your audience with every performance. Make them happy by painting whatever images are in your mind. Play your inner music for them and the genre is no longer relevant. Maybe my playing is not as powerful as the men but I think I can bring more sensitivity.

TR: So, then, how would you describe yourself?  Berta: I think I would describe myself as a Latin American Classical guitarist. “Salsa Roja” is a tribute to Latin America. I love to search for music of Latin American composers that hasn’t been recorded yet. What is especially enjoyable is to have the living composer there with you as you record.

 TR: I dislike over-used phrases like “ambassador” but that is truly the only fitting description of your role in bringing Latin American music to a wider audience. Your last album revealed the beautiful music of Paraguay to listeners who did not ignore the music but were just never aware of it.

 Berta: Yes, that is what I hope. I’m glad to hear you say that. There is a rich musical heritage from Latin America that has just not reached the ears of the world. This is why I like using compositions usually unknown to the rest of the world.

 TR: Let me ask a tired, old question. When did your music education begin?

 Berta: When I was about seven years old, I studied piano and guitar. I won a competition when I was young and I really enjoyed my connection with the guitar. I felt a call I could not ignore.

TR: So you said farewell to the piano?

Berta: I said farewell. Then I was fortunate enough to study with Eduardo Hernandez for about five years. I moved from Paraguay to the United States about 26 years ago. I tried to go home once a year but recently I have been going back five to six times a year to see my mother who is 87 years old.

TR: I’d like to ask you about the “Recycled Instruments Orchestra of Cateura.” What can you tell me about them?

Berta: They have also been called the “Landfill Harmonic Orchestra.” There are 19 members. They come from a poor part of Paraguay outside Asunción. These children wanted to learn music but could not afford instruments. So, their parents searched through landfills to find materials for making instruments. A man named Nicholas Gómez built their instruments with the recycled materials like marmalade tins and pipes. He is the genius behind the orchestration. This started about seven years ago and they were learning music on a patio with no classroom open to them. I wanted to help them build a proper music curriculum. A friend of mine donated about $35,000 worth of instruments for the whole orchestra.


TR: That orchestra plays with you on the first track of your new album. Are they playing the “recycled” instruments or the new instruments?

Berta: Oh, they are playing the landfill instruments! We added some guest musicians like a violin, viola, cello and double bass. We did that to soften the sometimes metallic sound. They all worked so very hard. They were meticulous in their attention. They have lots of talent.

TR: Yes! I was surprised that there was a remarkable absence of a metallic sound in these recycled instruments. Who is the youngest or I should say what is the youngest age in the orchestra?

Berta: That’s tough to remember. I think the youngest is about 10 years old.

TR: Who is Noelia?

Berta: Oh, she is a 12 year-old girl who was playing “guitar.” She is a gift for the whole world! When I met her, I saw it in her and two days later gave her my Yamaha guitar. She plays second guitar on “Salsa Roja” on the very first track “Tambito Josefino.” She plays the opening harmonics. [Vocalizes the harmonic response]

TR: The compositions on “Salsa Roja” are surprising. How did an Englishman like Vincent Lindsey-Clark come to write such exquisite “Latin American” music?

Berta: He is a phenomenon! I was touring by myself in England and passed by where he was in rehearsal. His compositions are so good and he was interested in exploring Latin American music. I got to know him and asked him if he would be interested in writing a “salsa with development.” After a short time I received the first part of what would become a suite. Periodically, I would receive more pieces until we wound up with a four-part suite.

TR: I know that it is called a suite but the way he composed connections that tie all four pieces together is almost symphonic. The development of the four note motif beginning in “Danza Galopa” is a brilliant hook. I have to use the word “haunting” to describe the effect. Maybe “memorable” is a better word.

Berta: No, you’re right. The minor 2nd is very sad.

TR: What do you feel when you play this particular piece?

Berta: The 3 against 2 rhythm is very attractive to me. [Intones the rhythm] I have a real affinity with that rhythm. The sadness makes me think of the impoverished landscapes of Paraguay. We have to find a way to change that. That loneliness makes me think of how little we have done and how very hard we must work to change that reality.

TR: What piece touches you the most? I know that is an impossible question to answer.

Berta: Well, I chose them all for a reason. They are all important to me.

TR: An example?

Berta: Well, “El vuelo de la mariposa [Flight of the Butterfly]” starts with the imagery of a butterfly flying from an English garden, being carried on a breeze, then landing in Paraguay. I so relate to that story. It is truly something special. But what really moves me is that it was written for me. It was written for the way I play—the way I make music.

TR: I have really enjoyed talking with you, Berta. I just want you to know that "Dia y Medio" remains one of the most-played CDs in my house.

Berta: I have enjoyed it, too! Thank you, my friend.


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Allan Holdsworth's "FLATTire; Music for a Non-Existent Movie" -- finally a worthy edition

9/8/2013

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“FLATTire; Music for a Non-Existent Movie” was first released in 2001 to be re-released in 2007. Finally, MoonJune Records has released a splendid edition with updated liner notes reflecting Holdsworth’s more clear-sighted understanding of what was going on with him when the music was first recorded.

This album represents Holdsworth’s desire to write film scores. The question immediately rises as to what sort of film this might be. Given the knowledge that Holdsworth has revealed about his experiences and frame-of-mind during the writing, imagery begins to emerge during the hearing of this remarkable album.

In 2001, he “had gone through a difficult divorce and was experiencing a lot of pain and feeling very lost and introspective.” That pain is revealed in the anguished introduction entitled “The Duplicate Man (Intro).” It is the only guitar part on the album and the solo guitar may very well reflect his emotions at being left alone with just a guitar. He had sold most of his studio equipment and much of his synthesizer collection and other instruments.

From the beginning, therefore, we are brought into his world of loneliness and deprivation. For those who have followed Allan Holdsworth for many years, that revelation alone is enough to create an aura of pain and isolation.

The album is certainly not without its jazzier moments when Dave Carpenter joins on acoustic bass for “Eeny Meeny” and “Bo Peep.” Plus, the virtuosity of Holdsworth’s musicianship and the single-mindedness of his compositions are evident at every turn.


PictureAllan Holdsworth with the Synthaxe
His astonishing work with the Synthaxe is on display through every piece after the introduction. In fact, aside from the guitar in that introduction and the twice-occurring bass of Dave Carpenter, the Synthaxe and drum programming are the sum total of the instrumentation. It is the Synthaxe that allows Holdsworth to go beyond the limitations he may have felt from the guitar alone. As much as Holdsworth admits to truly disliking drum programming, the effects he employs are impressive.

While guitar fans, Synthaxe fans, Jazz fans and Holdsworth fans will find everything to celebrate on this album, it is the “de profundis clamo ad te” of the album that makes the greatest impact. It is emotional and it is revealing.

“Please Hold On” is a lament that begs the question as to whom the entreaty is intended. Is it to the departed spouse or is Allan begging this of himself? It is painful in the most personal of ways.


“Curves” brings the listener along with a nice groove and then breaks away into almost disjointed reverie before returning to the introspective groove through the rest of the piece. No piece, however, is more reflective than “So Long” which follows immediately after.

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“So Long” begins with the sound of the rain followed by a car starting and driving away as the rain continues to fall. Forewarned with the knowledge of what surrounded Holdsworth during the composing and recording of this album, the listener is pushed into a personal reflection of similar experiences until the rain closes out the piece as it began.

“Don’t You Know” finishes the album in the most heart-breaking of ways. Big chords and swells release the listener from the experience but a few runs before the end break the melancholy, if only for a moment.

After hearing this remarkable recording, one is left wondering if the title is a double-meaning of Flat Tire as in “rendered unable to proceed” or more like “resentment on full display” as in FLAT IRE. Both ways work.

MoonJune Records has done what two previous record companies failed to do. Only slightly remastered, the recording has been “sonically enhanced” to create the experience that Allan Holdsworth intended in the first place.





The MoonJune Records 2013 re-issue of this splendid album can be purchased here.



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Berta Rojas Takes Us Higher...Again...With Her Latest Album "Salsa Roja"

9/8/2013

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PictureSalsa Roja the new CD by Berta Rojas
Following on her immensely successful and Latin Grammy-nominated collaboration with Paquito D’Rivera entitled “Dia y Medio”, Berta Rojas continues to educate, inspire and enlighten with her 2013 release “Salsa Roja.” It is a work backed by heart-warming experiences and intriguing stories. It is a work of sublime beauty and delicate sensitivity. It is a work of incredible compositions and flawless performances.

The seeds of the album were planted while Berta was on tour in England. She met the brilliant English composer for guitar Vincent Lindsey-Clark himself intrigued by the music of Berta’s Latin America. She invited him or maybe challenged him to write a “salsa with development.” In other words, she asked him to write a guitar suite. The result of this invitation is a work of wonder and imagination.

She also brought to the album some of Latin America’s most interesting and yet unknown composers and innovators. From Argentina comes the music of Quique Sinesi’s “Danza Sin Fin.” Edin Solis offers the tambito rhythm of Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province. The “dreamy and nostalgic” work of Julio Cesar Oliva from Mexico. Lindsey-Clark himself employed the galopa rhythm of Berta’s beloved Paraguay.

 Once again, Berta plays the role of ambassador for Latin American music to the rest of the world who remains unacquainted with such exquisite works of beauty.

The album is partitioned into sections according to the composers. It is a strategy that works well in an educational and thematic approach. The first section belongs to Edin Solis, a two-time Grammy winner who learned classical guitar in Spain and France. Solis has been a teacher of Costa Rican music to over 30 countries.

 The opening piece is entitled “Tambito josefino” [Tambito from San Jose] and is built on one of the two most popular rhythms of Costa Rica, the tambito (the other being the pasillo). The tambito is a festive 6/8 syncopated rhythm to which Solis added harmonies usually not found in that style. The arrangement in this track was specifically prepared for the The Recycled Instruments Orchestra of Cateura who appears on this track with Berta. Solis himself conducts the orchestra.

That orchestra is comprised of young people, even children, who came from the impoverished outskirts of Asuncion, Paraguay, in a community called Cateura. The children wanted to learn music but had no financial means of obtaining instruments. Their parents and others began scouring landfills for raw materials from which to make instruments. Those materials were taken to Don Nicholas Gomez who began crafting musical instruments out of marmalade tins, cigar boxes, galvanized pipes and more.


PictureBerta with the Orchestra of Recycled Instruments, conducted by Edin Solis (photo by Zenoura)
The instruments Don Nicholas crafted and the musicianship of these energetic and artistic young people is enthralling. When I asked Berta if these instruments on the track were the very same as the recycled instruments, Berta said that they were the very ones shaped from the raw materials of the landfill. However, to soften the sound a bit, guest musicians with violin, viola, cello and double-bass were added.

[My interview with Berta is posted here.]

One of the stars is a 12 year-old girl named Noelia. She plays 2nd guitar to Berta’s 1st guitar. Berta calls Noelia “a gift to the world.” When Berta first met the young girl, Noelia was playing a guitar fashioned from metal marmalade cans for the body. Two days later, Noelia received from Berta a Yamaha guitar from Berta’s own collection. Berta incidentally plays a guitar made by Michael O’Leary with Savarez strings.


“Tambito josefino” is a beautiful melody with mesmerizing harmonies on top of that hypnotic syncopated rhythm.  Solis’ arrangement is exact and appropriate. The story behind the music and the music itself renders the piece irresistible.

“Calle de Viento” [Street of the Wind] is the second piece from Edin Solis on the album. It is the title track of Solis’ own 1998 solo album. There is a melancholy here that is called to remind of the all-too-brief passage of life. Berta said that, although the classical guitar genre has been dominated by men, perhaps it requires a woman’s touch to bring such delicate sensitivity. This is especially true of this particular work. It is impossible to imagine any other artist surpassing Berta’s work on this all-too-brief song.

The second section belongs to Vincent Lindsey-Clark, a British guitarist who is better known for his compositions for the guitar. His compositions on “Salsa Roja” will only enhance and expand that renown.


Picture(Photo by Zenoura)
While Berta was touring alone in England, she met Vincent Lindsey-Clark and struck up an instant friendship with the Englishman. She discovered his interest in exploring Latin American music and she offered him a chance to compose a “salsa with development.” He took up the invitation and within a short time, Berta received the charts for the first of four movements of what would become a suite called “Fiesta Americana.”

The first movement, and third track of the album, is “Danza Galopa.” Berta calls it “the most serious piece of the suite.” It is a cross-rhythm of 3/4 and 6/8 and it is the 3 against 2 rhythm that Berta finds so attractive as she performs it. In her words, she has an “affinity” with that rhythm.

What is so haunting about the composition and performance is the four-note motif that is developed in a minor 2nd which gives it the richly sad character. It is wondrously crafted and executed. The delivery is absolutely spell-binding.

“Salsa Roja” is Lindsey-Clark’s second movement of the suite. There is a major shift for the motif which ties it to “Danza Galopa” splendidly. The regret of the previous track is transformed by the rhythm and key into a celebration.

It is based on the tumbao bass groove but Lindsey-Clark’s melodies and progressions created a one-piece salsa band for Berta’s lone guitar. Salsa is a Cuban genre with several sub-genres. With salsa’s complex Afro-Cuban rhythms and the fused elements of Jazz, it is a difficult piece. If salsa is Cuban dance music, as has been described, then this piece is well-suited for it.


The third movement of the suite is “El Vuelo de la Mariposa” [The Flight of the Butterfly]. The imagery is of a butterfly taking off from an English garden and, taken on the wind, crosses the Atlantic to finally comes to rest in Berta’s beloved Paraguay.

Berta, asked which of the pieces touches her the most, said that “La Mariposa” is truly something special. Especially since it was written for Berta and for the way she plays. All of the pieces, however, are important for her.

The final movement of the suite is “Fiesta Finale.” It is Lindsey-Clark’s own musings on Latin American music. It is almost a developed recapitulation of the first three movements. The ties of motifs, runs and progressions create an almost symphonic feel to the suite. Berta indeed received what she had requested—a salsa with development.

Picture(Photo by Zenoura)
The third section is devoted to the “dreamy and nostalgic” music of Mexico’s Julio Cesar Oliva. It includes five pieces written by Oliva, with one of them being an extended five-part variations on a lullaby.

“Vengo a Decirte Que Te Quiero” [I’ve Come to Tell You I Love You] is the first of Oliva’s compositions and serves as the seventh track on the album. It is the first of 25 pieces for solo guitar, inspired by the art of Mexico’s Fernando Pereznielo (d.2001). It is almost a neo-Impressionist piece and in places calls to mind the warmth of Debussy’s “Claire de Lune.” There are moments of shyness as a would-be lover professes affection.

Berta’s approach is achingly beautiful. It is touching and it is so very memorable.

Variaciones Sobre Una Cancion De Cuna—Duermete Mi Nino” [Variations on a Lullaby—Go to Sleep, My Child] is the five-part piece that offers five variations of a Central American lullaby. The theme is introduced in the “Andante Calmo” followed by three variations and the finale “Allegro.”


The pieces are virtuosic, delicate, sensitive and demanding and Berta handles them with such apparent ease.

 This is followed by a three-part Romantic piece still by Oliva. “Tres Instantes De Amor” [Three Moments of Love] is a study in the beginning and advance of infatuation. Part one, “Aparicion” [Appearance] is a lovely first-sighting of the loved one. It is a sweet reminder of the blossoming of new love.

PictureBerta Rojas (Photo by Zenoura)
Part two “Te Contemplo Desde Mi Ventana” [I Gaze Upon You from My Window] carries a profound sense of longing, almost like the oboe’s sustained note in the Overture to “Tristan und Isolde.” Berta brings that imagery to multi-faceted life in such sustained sensitivity. Part three is “Obsesion” [Obsession]. It is lively and single-minded as the theme rolls over and over.

The final section is a single piece written by Quique Sinesi entitled “Danza Sin Fin” [Endless Dance]. It is a 6/8 and 7/4 piece that was originally composed as a duo for piano and guitar. Sinesi himself arranged it just for Berta. It is the dance of life without end.


Even though titled as a dance, the song is a rapturous and joyful hymn to life. It is the sound of wonder and delight. If one were forced to choose a one-word description of Berta Rojas and her artistry, "skilled", "sensitive", "virtuosic", or even "genius" would fail to carry the full impact and import of her. She is...delightful. No one could say that of Segovia or Bream or Parkening but it is true of Berta.

From the first track with instruments from a landfill to a final track of celebration, “Salsa Roja” is a portrayal of life and love. Above poverty, above loneliness, above sadness, love and music and the love of music carries on in a dance without end. And Berta Rojas plays the tune.


~ Travis Rogers Jr.


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