concha piquer: éxitos inolvidables vols. 1 & 2

digital anthology vols. 1 & 2

Concha Piquer

María Concepción Piquer López (December 8, 1906, Valencia, Spain – December 12, 1990, Madrid), known professionally as Concha Piquer or Conchita Piquer, was a Spanish singer and actress, the most celebrated female voice in the history of the copla and one of the defining figures of twentieth-century Spanish popular music. The daughter of a humble Valencian family, she was discovered at the age of twelve by Antonio Moles, who took her to New York where she performed as a young prodigy - impressing audiences at the Palace Theatre and recording for the Victor label as early as 1923. During her years in the United States she befriended Charlie Chaplin and was photographed by Edward Steichen. On her return to Spain she built a career entirely centred on the copla - the narrative popular song of Andalusian origin - in partnership with the poets Rafael de León and Antonio Quintero and the composer Manuel Quiroga, whose joint output produced the defining songs of her repertoire: "Tatuaje", "Ojos verdes", "Échale guindas al pavo" and "La Lirio". Her interpretations were celebrated for their theatrical power, vocal depth, and emotional directness - qualities that made the copla, in her hands, a vehicle for the drama of love, abandonment, honour, and social marginality in a Spain profoundly marked by the Civil War and its aftermath. She retired from the stage in 1959, citing failing health, but her recordings continued to sell for decades. Federico García Lorca declared her "the most authentic voice of Spain." She was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en el Trabajo. She was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2002, posthumously.

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cárcel de oro

tatuaje

con divisa verde y oro

amante de abril y mayo

stacey kent: a time for love

album rating: ★★★★☆

Genre

Vocal jazz. "A Time for Love" continues Kent's shift toward a more minimalist sensibility: joined by her husband, saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, and pianist Art Hirahara, the trio takes on covers from a variety of sources including the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, Burt Bacharach, Serge Gainsbourg, and Brazilian and Italian repertoire - maintaining the intimate, softly lit café atmosphere that has defined her recent recordings.

Release

Released on April 3, 2026, by Naïve Records, under exclusive licence to the label via Token Productions. The album contains ten songs with a total running time of 41 minutes. It was preceded by the EP A Little Time for Love (2025).

Production

Produced by Jim Tomlinson, who also played saxophone and percussion on selected tracks alongside pianist Art Hirahara. Percussion was additionally contributed by Jim Tomlinson (tracks 5 and 10) and Stacey Kent herself (track 5). 

Reception

Presto Music designated it Recording of the Week on April 3, 2026, praising Kent's "voice as light as air and as smooth as honey" and her "nuanced and refreshing undertaking of standards, bossa nova, and French chanson." The Spectrum Culture review described the album as "no less lovely" while acknowledging that the trio's minimalist approach "might come as a surprise to some devoted fans."

Stacey Kent

Born in South Orange, New Jersey in 1965, Kent earned a degree in comparative literature at Sarah Lawrence College before travelling to England to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, whom she married in 1991. She launched her recording career with Close Your Eyes (1997) and has since built one of the most distinctive multilingual vocal catalogues in contemporary jazz — spanning standards, bossa nova, chanson française, and originals written with Tomlinson and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, with whom the trio has collaborated since 2006. She has also recorded with Brazilian legends Marcos Valle, Roberto Menescal, and Danilo Caymmi, and the celebrated Quatuor Ébène. Her accolades include the British Jazz Award (2001), the BBC Jazz Award for Best Vocalist (2002), a Grammy nomination for Breakfast on the Morning Tram (2009), the Best Vocal Performance prize at the 2022 Jazz Music Awards in Atlanta, and the Prix Ella Fitzgerald at the 2023 Montreal Jazz Festival.

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a time for love

e la chiamano estate

rubén blades: antecedente

album rating: ★★★★☆

Genre

Salsa, Latin rock, and nueva canción. "Antecedente" is Blades's most eclectic and politically ambitious album, ranging from salsa dura and cumbia to reggae, rock, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, with lyrics that address Central American political violence, cultural identity, and the immigrant experience - while featuring the electric guitar-led sound of Son del Solar that distanced the album from the conventional salsa brass format.

Release

Released in April 1988 by Elektra Records. It was Blades's seventh studio album and his third with Son del Solar, the New York-based ensemble he had formed in 1985 as a vehicle for his most experimental work. 

Production

Produced by Rubén Blades and Avi Kipper. Son del Solar comprised Óscar Hernández on piano and arrangements, Ralph Irizarry on timbales, Eddie Montalvo on congas, Robby Ameen on drums, Mark Walker on percussion, Laurence Salzmann on bass, and Richie Flores on bongos; guitarists included Hank Roberts and Jon Faddis contributed trumpet. Recorded at Right Track Recording Studios, New York City.

Reception

The album won the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album in 1989 - Blades's first Grammy -and was praised by critics for its musical ambition and lyrical depth. Robert Christgau awarded it an A−, describing it as "a major artistic statement". The New York Times called it "an album of remarkable breadth." 

Rubén Blades y Son del Solar

Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948, Panama City) is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, actor, and politician, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Latin music. After producing landmark albums with Willie Colón at Fania Records - most notably Siembra (1978), the best-selling salsa album in history -he signed with Elektra in 1984 and formed Son del Solar, an ensemble conceived to expand salsa's musical and lyrical boundaries beyond its commercial conventions. Son del Solar -whose name translates as "Sound of the Solar" - drew on rock, jazz, and nueva canción alongside Afro-Caribbean traditions. Blades went on to accumulate nine Grammy Awards in total, a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an honorary Doctor of Music from Yale, and a term as Panama's Minister of Tourism (2004–2009). "Antecedente" remains the album most frequently cited by critics as the peak of his Elektra period.

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contrabando

patria

the meters: look-ka py py

album rating: ★★★★☆

Genre

Funk and New Orleans R&B. Look-Ka Py Py is the definitive document of the Meters' foundational sound: stripped-back, hypnotic funk built on the interlocking interplay of Art Neville's organ, Leo Nocentelli's guitar, George Porter Jr.'s bass, and Zigaboo Modeliste's drums - a four-way conversation so rhythmically intricate and so seemingly effortless that it remains one of the most imitated and least duplicated sounds in American music.

Release

Released in 1969 by Josie Records. It was the Meters' second studio album, recorded the same year as their debut The Meters (1969). 

Production

Produced by Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn - the producing partnership that had signed the Meters to Josie and whose Sansu Enterprises imprint shaped the New Orleans sound of the late 1960s. All twelve tracks are originals composed by the group. Recorded at Sea-Saint Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Reception

The album is regarded as one of the foundational texts of funk music. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 196 on its 2023 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. AllMusic awarded it a perfect score, describing the Meters as "the definitive New Orleans funk band" and the album as a masterclass in rhythmic interplay. "Look-Ka Py Py" and "Dry Spell" became among the most sampled tracks in hip-hop history, with the former used by artists including Dr. Dre, Public Enemy, and A Tribe Called Quest.

The Meters

The Meters were an American funk band formed in New Orleans in 1965, comprising Art Neville (December 17, 1937 – July 22, 2019) on keyboards and vocals, Leo Nocentelli (born June 15, 1946) on guitar, George Porter Jr. (born December 26, 1947) on bass, and Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste (born December 28, 1948) on drums. They began as a session and backing band for Allen Toussaint's productions -playing on recordings by Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe, and many others -before recording their own material for Josie Records from 1969. Their influence on subsequent funk, hip-hop, and New Orleans music is incalculable: they have been sampled more than 1,300 times. After a split in 1977 they reunited in 1989 and have continued performing in various configurations. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.

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look-ka py py

paolo conte: razmataz

album rating: ★★★★☆

Genre

Italian jazz and chanson. Razmataz is a narrative concept album set in the Paris of the 1920s, telling the story of Razmataz - a Harlem dancer and her troupe - in what Conte described as "a story about the meeting between old Europe and young black music." The eighteen tracks are sung predominantly in French, deploying music hall, tango, jazz, guaracha, and waltz to recreate the sensibility of a specific historical moment with Conte's characteristic irony and tonal ingenuity.

Release

Released in October 2000 by CGD East West as a triple project: a studio album, a partly animated DVD, and an illustrated book - the three formats together constituting a single multimedia artwork. The eighteen tracks include "Razzmatazz," "Paris, les paris," "Guaracha," "La reine noire," "Ça depend," "Talent scout man," "The black Queen," "La java javanaise," "La petite tendresse," and the closing "Mozambique fantasy (ouverture)" - an eight-minute centrepiece.

Production

Produced by Renzo Fantini. Paolo Conte wrote all lyrics and music, arranged all compositions, and played piano throughout. Recorded by Massimo Visentin at Studiottanta Fortuna Records, Calliano Monferrato, Piedmont; mixed at Fonoprint, Bologna, Italy. The ensemble featured Jino Touché on bass, Daniele Di Gregorio on vibraphone and percussion, Massimo Pitzianti on accordion and bandoneón, and Luca Velotti on reeds.

Reception

The album was enthusiastically received across Europe and won the Targa Tenco 2000 for best Italian album - Conte's seventh Targa over the course of his career. The French and Dutch markets, where Conte has always maintained a particularly devoted following, gave the album exceptional commercial response. 

Paolo Conte

Paolo Conte (born January 6, 1937, Asti, Piedmont) is a singer, pianist, songwriter, painter, and lawyer, one of the most original and internationally respected figures in the history of Italian popular music. He began his career writing hits for others - most notably "Azzurro" (1968) for Adriano Celentano - before launching his recording career in 1974. His style is built on an encyclopaedic knowledge of early twentieth-century popular music and a talent for constructing entire imaginary worlds through music and lyrics. His accolades include seven Targa Tenco awards, the Premio Tenco lifetime achievement award (1983), a David di Donatello for best film score for "La freccia azzurra" (1997), the "Cavaliere di Gran Croce" of the Italian Republic (1999), and the "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettre"s from France (2001). 

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paris, les paris

paris, les paris (live)

the yellow dog

cantares de manhouce: cantares da beira

cd realease

album rating: ★★★★★

Genre

Portuguese traditional folk music. What one should seek in Cantares da Beira is intimacy with the roots, the non-adulteration of primordial gestures and cycles, the childlike purity of expressing in the active voice what the soul sings when the body works. The programme gathers the work songs, harvest chants, religious "cantares", and dance melodies of the Beira Alta region in their most unmediated form - captured without orchestration or arrangement, exactly as they are performed in Manhouce.

Release

Released in 1982 by EMI-Valentim de Carvalho, Portugal - the group's debut LP, presented officially at Hotel Roma in Lisbon on 7 December 1982. 

Production

Produced by Mário Martins of EMI-Valentim de Carvalho, who was responsible for the group's exclusive contract with the label. The opportunity to record arose after a performance at the FIL in Lisbon, where a representative of the label approached the group; Mário Martins subsequently visited Manhouce in person to help select the repertoire. Cantares da Beira was recorded in a single session without mishap. 

Reception

The album is regarded by critics as one of the finest records in Portuguese traditional music - one of the best ever produced in Portugal - for the purity of its approach and its faithful preservation of a living oral tradition. The group toured Brazil in 1983 and was received by President Ramalho Eanes at the Palácio de Belém. 

Grupo de Cantares de Manhouce

The Grupo de Cantares de Manhouce is a traditional music group founded in 1978 in Manhouce, São Pedro do Sul, Viseu, whose origins trace back to the Rancho Folclórico de Manhouce, created in 1938. The group formed shortly before the recording of Cantares da Beira, motivated - in the words of its principal soloist Isabel Silvestre - by "the people of Manhouce's love of singing": a vital function woven into every agricultural task, from the harvest to the threshing floor, and nourished by proximity to the convents of Arouca and São Cristóvão de Lafões. Isabel Silvestre, the group's defining voice, consistently resisted any pressure toward external arrangements: "If anyone does that, I leave immediately. We have the right to take what was handed down to us and present it exactly as it is." The group's subsequent discography under EMI-Valentim de Carvalho includes "Aboio" (1984), "Cânticos Religiosos" (1985), and "Vozes da Terra" (1991).

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senhor da pedra

presuntos implicados: alma de blues

album rating: ★★★★★

Genre

Sophisti-pop, soul, jazz, and blues. "Alma de Blues" defined the group's sound and catapulted them to fame: a unique proposition of elegant pop, far removed from the "Movida Madrileña", with influences from jazz, soul, and bossa nova. Nacho Mañó's contributions as a session musician brought a funk dimension to the group's fresh, clean pop-rock sound, with the title track conceived as a tribute by Sole Giménez to Billie Holiday.

Release

Released in September 1989 by WEA Records, S.A., Spain. It was the group's third studio album and their first for a major label. The album achieved gold certification within six months of release and is currently triple platinum.

Production

Self-produced by Presuntos Implicados. Sound engineer was Alejandro Muñoz; assistant engineers were Javier Damiá and Quique Morales. Drums, percussion, bass, guitars, and electric drums were recorded at Estudios Tyrell, Madrid; keyboards, piano, guitars, saxophone, effects, choir, and voice at Estudios Kirios, Madrid; selected tracks were mixed at Estudios The Sound, Madrid, Spain. Session musicians included David Schnitter on saxophone, Joshua Edelman on piano, Enric Murillo, Santi Navalón, and Vicente Sabater on keyboards, Salvador Ortiz on drums, and Óscar Astruga on acoustic drums.

Reception

The album's main singles - "Me das el mar," "Río Po," and "Alma de blues" - established the group as one of the most important acts in the Spanish pop-rock scene, and the tour that followed extended to Spain, the Americas, and part of Europe. 

Presuntos Implicados

Presuntos Implicados were a Spanish pop band created in March 1983 in Yecla, Murcia. Sole Giménez (born February 27, 1963, Paris) joined as backing vocalist for demo sessions her brother Juan Luis had organised for the RNE radio contest Don Domingo; it was the recording engineer at Estudios Pertegás, Valencia, who noticed her voice and suggested she become the lead singer. The classic trio that recorded "Alma de Blues" comprised Sole Giménez on voice and chorus, Nacho Mañó on guitar, bass, keyboards, and piano, and Juan Luis Giménez on guitar, bass, and chorus. Together they sold over three million records across their career, with multiple platinum certifications, and won the prestigious "Premio Ondas" in recognition of their trajectory. Sole Giménez departed in 2006 to pursue a solo career; Juan Luis Giménez and Nacho Mañó continued the group with a new vocalist until its amicable dissolution in 2021.

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me das el mar

alma de blues

off-album tracks

volviendo a casa

from the album de sol a sol