Trova (World Village, 2009)
Marta Topferova, the passionate Czech singer-songwriter with a Latin American heart has a new recording titled Trova. The new album continues Topferova’s genuine explorations of Latin American music. As the title of the album implies, Topferova focuses on the great trovador (troubadour or minstrel) tradition of Latin America. Her influences include the nueva trova of Cuba as well as the South American nueva canción that many singers, including Mercedes Sosa, made popular.
What makes Marta Topferova’s music fascinating is her rich, deep voice and the fact that she writes most of her own material and sings in Spanish as well, which is her third language after Czech and English. In addition, she incorporates various Latin American genres, including Cuban son, Argentine cueca and Puerto Rican bomba. Currently based in New York City, Topferova has an all-acoustic band that includes excellent musicians of various backgrounds who provide Latin American rhythms and jazz elements.
"I wanted to go for a contrast and make Trova a more upbeat record," says Topferova, "highlighting more Caribbean influences such as the Cuban son, bolero, Puerto Rican bomba, etc. I was always fond of the Cuban tres (a steel guitar with three sets of double strings) and I was lucky to find a tres player (Aaron Halva) who knows the trova tradition very well, but is also a very versatile musician who cam play many other rhythms and styles on the tres." Joining Topferova (guitar, cuatro and lead vocals) and Halva (tres, accordion, backing vocals) are Roland Satterwhite (violin, backing vocals), Pedro Giraudo (acoustic bass, backing vocals) and Neil Ochoa (congas, bombo, cajon, pandero, bell and cymbal).
Trova is an extraordinary album by one of the rising stars of the nueva cancion.
Buy the CD or MP3 download:
- In North America: Trova. Other recordings available: Flor Nocturna, Sueño Verde and La Marea (The Tide)
- In Europe: Trova. Other recordings available: La Marea (The Tide), Flor Nocturna and Sueño Verde
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
