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Del Sol Books provides the best Spanish/English/Bilingual Children's Books/CDs/DVDs, featuring Alma Flor Ada, F. Isabel Campoy, and Suni Paz

Suni PazMusician : Suni Paz
Teacher

Bandera Mia, Songs of Argentina

Del Sol Books, Get The Complete SetBandera Mia, Songs of Argentina, Spanish, CD, Suni Paz, Teacher, $19.95   Listen

$412.60 for the Suni Paz Collection , Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 2 Bilingual CDs, 23 Spanish CDs, 1 Softcover Spanish Book, and 1 Softcover English Book
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SONGLINES TOP TEN TOP OF THE WORLD ALBUMS

Wanting to properly honor the country in which she was born and raised and that inspired her musically, singer/songwriter Suni Paz decided to release an album of traditional and original folk songs that encompassed the style and sense of Argentina. With liner notes that include a biography of Paz and individual track explanations in both Spanish and English, Bandera Mía: Songs of Argentina is a compelling, poignant collection. Paz's voice has only matured with age, which gives her words a greater weight and believability, and her guitar, which warmly entwines itself into the Latin percussion, harps, reeds, and other guitars, as well as the voices of the singers themselves (Paz is often accompanied by Rafael Manríquez and son Ramiro Fauve -- who also play many of the instruments on the album -- on background vocals). And her voice is expressive enough that comprehending the words she sings isn't as important as feeling the emotion she puts into them. There are songs of love ("Hasta Otro Día"), songs of remembrance ("Tierra Querida," "Pedro Canoero") songs of pain ("Baguala Tucumana del Mollar," "Por un Camino de Abrojos"), songs of joy or flirtation ("La Colorada," "A la Huella"), but more than the lyrics, it's the ache of melancholy and despair or the rush of happiness and delight in her voice that's understood. All together it creates a fantastic depiction of the country, from the southern plains to the large, crowded cities to the mountainous regions to the eastern area known as the Litoral, and the music sweeps and flows like the wind over the land, stopping just long enough to allow itself to be heard and remembered before it moves on. Through zamba, baguala, huella, bailecito, and tango Paz takes her listeners through her homeland, introducing them to its many different sides and leaving them trying to figure out if they can make it to Argentina anytime soon.

According to Argentine singer Suni Paz, "music and art are in my DNA." Born into a large, musically oriented family in Buenos Aires, her grandfather and father bred their children with a strict understanding of the regional folk traditions. This shines through in Bandera Mia, with both the intelligent songwriting indicative of lifelong, studied musicians, and in the slightly confining persistence on perfection existent within the 17 songs. For the former, Paz's arrangements are brilliant; pertaining to the latter, the subtle nuances available for less academic artists are swallowed by precision. There is no right or wrong--it's simply a scholarly recording that does admit a great deal of passion. The Andean flutes and regional drum (caja) on "Baguala Tucumana del Mollar," a song devoted to marking animals on ritual occasions, are gorgeous, filled by an evocation of grandness, as if embarking on a long journey uncertain of destination. The same goes on the acoustic "El Aromo," near lullaby in approach. Her charango playing proves more than reliable, yet it is her exact rolling of the letter "R," a long, somewhat monotonous repetition, and precise tonal changes that make certain songs feel confined. Alas, music is in Paz's blood, from birth through singing alongside Cesar Chavez's speeches in the turbulent '60s. Whatever slight disturbances the ripples of academia provide, her insistence on preserving the folk music of her homeland--most splendidly exhibited when the bandoneon appears, especially on an upbeat, feisty "Sueno de Barrilete"--makes for important, and overall enjoyable, listening. What the likes of Susana Baca is doing for Peru, and Mariana Montalvo for Chile, Suni Paz is accomplishing in her native land.


Listen to a sample song from Bandera Mía, Songs of Argentina's songs by clicking on the highlighted CD title below. 

17-Song Bandera Mia, Songs of Argentina's CD
Tierra Querida – Beloved Homeland (zamba)
Bandera Mía – Flag of Mine (bailecito)
A un Semejante – To a Kindred Spirit (tango)
Iguazú (guarania
Baguala Tucumana del Mollar (baguala)
Casi, Casi – Almost, Almost (bailecito)
El Aromo – The Aromo Tree (milonga pampeana)
Hasta Otro Día – Until Another Day (carnavalito)
Pedro Canoero – Pedro Canoe Man (guarania)
Sueño de Barrilete – Kite Dream (tango)
A la Huella – To the Huella (huella)
Zamba Navideña – Christmas Zamba (zamba)
La Colorada (chacarera)
Junco Travieso – Mischievous Rascal (vals)
Por un Camino de Abrojos – Along a Road of Thorns (vidalita)
Mi Caballo Perdido – My Lost Horse (gato)
No Quiero que Te Vayas – I Don't Want You to Leave (cueca)

 


Suni Paz Collection
Abecedario de los animalesBandera Mia, Songs of ArgentinaCanciones del mar y de la tierraCanciones para el recreo, Alerta Sings Songs for the PlaygroundCoral y espuma abecedario del marCuentame un cuentoLa pinata vacia, The Empty PinataDel cielo de mi ninezDestellos y SombrasEntre hermanasGathering the SunAmigos, FriendsMusica amiga, Que rica la rondaPio PeepSpirit of a Woman, Del Sol BooksTres Princesas


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