Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

Voces de Bronce

The first time I heard Carlos Gardel was in my maternal grandmother’s voice. She enjoyed singing, and used her beautiful, light soprano voice mostly to entertain herself while doing chores. From her I learned “Soledad”, one of Gardel’s most famous tangos which we kept calling “our song” throughout her life.

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About the album

The first time I heard Carlos Gardel was in my maternal grandmother’s voice. She enjoyed singing, and used her beautiful, light soprano voice mostly to entertain herself while doing chores. From her I learned “Soledad”, one of Gardel’s most famous tangos which we kept calling “our song” throughout her life. On my father’s side, my grandparents were recognized tango dancers, a regular presence in the local and regional milongas and dance competitions. They heard every tango orchestra and singer worth their salt from the late 40’s to the 60’s, and, later in their lives, they would become members of different tango appreciation societies as the genre became less socially relevant.

Gardel was an unavoidable figure in my life, and the love of tango, one of the most valued parts of my family inheritance. I even became, at 8 years of age, the youngest audience member when the Mercedes Gardel Society hosted a projection of Gardel’s movie “Mi Buenos Aires Querido” in the local library. Yet my personal connection with Gardel and his tango has always been somewhat indirect: a profound but distant fascination but never an active engagement. The subjects of its lyrics, the music’s general spirit, and the sensibility which informs it has always seemed foreign to me. A sensation which the arbitrary distinction between the tango cosmopolitanism and the folklore’s rustic characterization – too prevalent even today in Argentina — would only deepen.

I felt as though I needed to choose between one or the other. I therefore decided on the music closest to my experience, which admittedly had little to do with amorous conquests or the existential anguish of the valiant Buenos Aires’ men. Eventually I moved to Europe and kept my musical heritage for myself while exploring those of the Iberian Middle Ages, as well as the Renaissance and Early Baroque periods of the Ibero-American empires. Through them I developed my own musical method to bring together historical sources into convincing musical performances.

My interests soon moved from just amassing musical pieces to researching the networks, institutions and communities that made their transmission and survival across the centuries possible. Most importantly, I was fascinated by the role played by subjective matters of taste in the transmission of certain repertoires between different communities, leading some composers to become legends, others to be forgotten. Soon I began to look back at my country’s own historical repertoire with the same curiosity, bringing me back to Gardel’s unavoidable figure. I was less interested in his tango legend but in the actual living historical figure and the undeniable role played by the communities and repertoires of the “canto criollo” which defined him as an artist.

Tracklist click to play/pause

  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Amargura ('El Floridense')

    3:30 Play button Pause button 3:30
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    En vano, en vano...!

    2:21 Play button Pause button 2:21
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Estilo criollo, Op. 8 No. 4

    2:07 Play button Pause button 2:07
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Gorjeos ('La Mariposa')

    3:52 Play button Pause button 3:52
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Entre colores

    2:22 Play button Pause button 2:22
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Canción agreste ('El Milongón')

    2:56 Play button Pause button 2:56
  • Jonatan Alvarado, Sophia Patsi & Jessica Denys

    El pañuelo de seda

    3:40 Play button Pause button 3:40
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    El alma del payador

    2:44 Play button Pause button 2:44
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    El sueño

    3:07 Play button Pause button 3:07
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    La vida del carretero

    3:12 Play button Pause button 3:12
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    La cordobesa

    2:22 Play button Pause button 2:22
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Aires criollos No. 2

    1. I. La porteñita (Zamba)
      1:05 Play button Pause button 1:05
    2. II. Recuerdos (Estilo clásico)
      2:01 Play button Pause button 2:01
  • Jonatan Alvarado, Sophia Patsi & Jessica Denys

    Vidalita ('Flor Marchita')

    4:10 Play button Pause button 4:10
  • Jonatan Alvarado, Juan Vizán & Jessica Denys

    Claveles mendocinos

    3:06 Play button Pause button 3:06
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Chinita linda

    2:04 Play button Pause button 2:04
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    El Pericón

    2:18 Play button Pause button 2:18
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    El gato

    2:44 Play button Pause button 2:44
  • Jonatan Alvarado, Juan Vizán & Jessica Denys

    El triunfo

    2:28 Play button Pause button 2:28
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Un bailongo (Milonga)

    3:20 Play button Pause button 3:20
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Joaquina (Tango)

    2:34 Play button Pause button 2:34
  • Jonatan Alvarado & Jessica Denys

    Mi noche triste (Tango-canción)

    3:18 Play button Pause button 3:18

More information

Label TRPTK
Genre(s) World Music
Artist(s) Jessica Denys
Jonatan Alvarado
Juan Vizán
Sophia Patsi
Composer(s) Aguilar, José María
Alais, Juan
Begamino, Juan
Cepeda, Andrés
Compoamor, Manuel
Corsini, Ignacio
De Nava, Arturo
Gardel, Carlos
Greco, Ángel
Martino, Francisco
Munilla, Diego
Pardo, Mario
Pelaia, Alfredo
Podestá, Antonio
Razzano, José
Ricardo, José
Ríos, Ambrosio
Saldías, José Antonio
Tapia, Cristino
Recording location(s) Galaxy Studios, Mol (BE)
Recording date(s) June 2022
Cat. No.

TTK 0099

Release date

April 21st, 2023

Additional links

Download Booklet(PDF)

Tech specs

Microphones

Josephson C617 w/ Gefell MK221 capsules (main)
DPA d:dicate 4006A (height)
Ehrlund EHR-M (voice, guitars)
Singular Audio f-48 (voice)

Microphone preamps

Crookwood MultiPre

AD/DA conversion

Merging Technologies Hapi
Merging Technologies Anubis
Grimm Audio CC2

Recording resolution

DSD 11.2MHz 1bit

Mastering resolution

PCM 352.8kHz 64bit

Monitoring (recording)

KEF LS50
Audeze LCD-X

Monitoring (mastering)

KEF Blade Two
KEF LS50 Meta
Hegel H30
Hegel C55

Cabling

Furutech custom microphone cables
Furutech custom interlinks
Furutech custom power cables
Furutech custom loudspeaker cables
Grimm Audio TPR8 breakout cables
Purecable Prime DIG75 word clock cable

"The impression this recital made on me is that of great authenticity, although it is rather difficult to interpret. In my experience, however, it is exactly what it is: an impression, enhanced by this warm but also bright tenor and his extremely colorful guitar playing, together with the no less colorful Belgian guitarist Jessica Denis and the eloquent vocal contributions of Sophia Patsi and Juan Vizán. [...] And again, the brilliant recording strikes again, as if TRPTK has the patent on that."

Aart van der Wal, Opus Klassiek

"It was immersive from the beginning, and it really shows. There is an absolute perfect amount of musical information in the surround and height channels for this type of music. Sure, this is subjective. A case could be made to put the instruments in a more adventurous immersive placement, but I love the way Voces de Bronce was recorded and mixed. It just feels like real life."

Chris Connaker, Audiophile Style

"‘Voces de Bronze’ is an extraordinarily rich album that will certainly give a new impetus to the revaluation of Argentine folk music. A genre that is too little highlighted in Europe and the rest of the world."

Yung Lie, Alpha Audio

"Beautiful and poetic repertoire from a time when love and sorrow were sung in nature metaphors."

Joost Galema, NRC

SKU: TTK 0099 SA Category:
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