José María Vitier and Martirio
El Aire que te Rodea (Sony Music, 2011)
Cuiban pianist and popular Spanish singer Martirio join forces on El Aire que te Rodea, an intimate album dedicated to Iberoamerican poetry. Martirio is one of Spain’s most popular singers. She revolutionized the old time Spanish copla by incorporating contemporary elements, jazz and Latin American rhythms. José María Vitier is a renowned pianist and composer.
The two artists met in 2002 when Jose Maria Vitier asked Martirio to sing a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca for one of his albums. They became friends and talked about a full album together. The result is El Aire que te Rodea which combines memorable songs with jazz, boleros, tango, classical music and Flamenco stylings.
El Aire que te Rodea contains 13 poems set to music by Vitier. Poets include Garcia Lorca, Gabriela Mistral, Calderon de la Barca, San Juan de la Cruz, Ernesto Cardenal, Ruben Dario and Vitier himself, as well as his mother Fina Garcia-Marruz.
Maribel Quiñones began her artistic career in 1981 in the Andalusian folk group Jarcha. She left the group and created Martirio (Torment), her new musical identity. She quickly attracted the attention of the media and music fans for her big “peinetas” (Spanish traditional decorative hair combs), her dark glasses and her dresses that combine folklore and postmodernism.
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.