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| Title: |
"The Latin Touch " |
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| Label: |
XRCD |
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| Regular
Price : |
$39.95 |
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| Sale Price: |
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| Format: |
CD (XRCD2) |
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| Artist: |
Laura Fygi |
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| Description: |
XRCD version!
"Well, it's different!" is the modest comment Laura Fygi makes as she listens with approval to the tracks on her latest CD 'Change'. Those who, after her previous seven albums, think they know all about the scope of the Fygi repertoire, are once again in for a surprise. "I hate stereotypes", Laura explains. "My work can't be typified by any one genre. I love many different kinds of music and the stories you find within that music. I have now added my own stories. In that sense, it's another debut."
Where many big names in music often end up resorting to endless repetitions of their initial successes, Laura Fygi manages to keep on surprising her numerous fans with a very individual choice of repertoire. After the 'Live' album in 1998 - the album that finally does full justice to her talents as a live performer - Laura surprised both friend and foe last year with a CD full of salsa tracks and other highlights of sultry Latin-American music. Judging by the success of this Latin album, Laura, who grew up in Uruguay, has not lost 'The Latin Touch'.
However, Laura would not be Laura if she had then recorded another album full of salsa, cha cha's and boleros. She always aims to discover new styles, explore unknown genres and try out new material. What she searches for, in short, is change. And with her new 'Change' album, she's managed to do it again: a brand new Fygi, unlike anything she's done before but still typically Laura. However, the album had to offer more than just change; it was time Laura told her own story. "I have only ever performed songs to which I could personally relate. A song has to 'touch' you, otherwise you can't sing it from the heart. In my previous seven albums I have managed to prove that I have a good voice and also that my musical talents reach further than the sultry jazz genre. Now it was time to chronicle my own story in an album. Sometimes very fragile, sometimes with big orchestral movements, but always close and personal. Perhaps this is truly my first 'own' album."
Choosing the songs for this album was not easy, but Laura knew exactly what she wanted. "In the first instance I see myself as a storyteller rather than a singer. And that is exactly what I've done: I approached various songwriters and composers, among them my producers Henk-Jan Smit and Haro Slok, and told them stories - about my loves, my life, my children. That has resulted in some beautiful tracks. 'Girl Talk', for instance, about a mother who can't wait for her daughter to grow up so they can sit in the garden together and chat. Or 'Enfant terrible', which - I must cautiously admit - is based on my own youth. And you can guess what 'Eternal Honeymoon' is about."
Of course it takes a little while to become familiar with a new repertoire. Laura: "You have to stamp your own personality on it. You can do this by playing the song just a little faster, a little higher - or lower - and sometimes by making small changes to the lyrics. When singing existing songs this is of course not so easy, but with these new, 'own' songs I was free to tailor them to my style. For cracks, I was lucky to be able to work with Julie Forsyth - of Grant & Forsyth - and Leonardo Amuedo, who I worked with on my previous album. They understood exactly what I was trying to say and found the right composition and arrangements. That's why I'm so proud of the end result: this album is straight from the heart - my heart".
Laura got her love of show business from her mother, who encouraged her to participate in plays, take piano and singing lessons, perform in school musicals and sing in background choirs. Laura's talent was discovered relatively late. The credit for doing so goes to producers' duo Richard Debois and Peter van Asten. These songwriters invited Laura to join Terra, a multi-racial band consisting of one Dutchman and three girls from Suriname, China and Arabia. After two flopped singles Terra disbanded. As Debois and Van Asten felt there were opportunities for her intense soul voice, Laura stayed on.
It was the era of girl bands in revealing outfits, singing provocative songs. Prince's pop trio, Vanity Six, stormed the charts and Van Asten and Debois put Laura together with two other sensual female singers. Centerfold was born. The band toured Europe and Japan for nearly seven years without a break. Funk, soul, ballads… audiences couldn't believe their eyes and ears: these girls were not miming, they could actually sing. Laughing, Laura recalls: "To prove it, we would turn down the volume and sing a capella. You should have seen the look on their faces …."
Centerfold eventually split up and Laura, after all these hectic years, took some time out for herself. She met her 'Mr. Right' and got married. Initially she didn't miss the music and touring but after a while she started to get restless. The feeling got stronger by the day. She recalled the period when, after another successful performance, she was singing in the hotel bar to an audience of two faithful admirers: the barman on duty and manager Herman van der Zwan. In those early hours of the morning she sang her 'own' repertoire: melodious ballads, subtle 'swing' songs. She remembered that that same Van der Zwan had promised, at the time, to help her if she ever wanted to pursue a solo career. When Herman became A&R Manager at record company Phonogram it took one phonecall from Laura to make him keep his promise. Her first album, 'Introducing', showed her as a completely different singer. Laura as Laura, not as the Centerfold figurehead. To get rid of this old image once and for all there was Laura's own unique voice, a very different - jazzy - sound, and famous guest players, like Jean 'Toots' Thielemans. And for the recording of 'Bewitched', Laura's second solo album, none other than Clark Terry came into the studio to join in. Laura's velvety songs were produced by Ruud Jacobs, which resulted in a series of Brazilian beauties on her third album, 'The lady wants to know'.
Laura's achievements did not go unnoticed by the international entertainment industry and the (professional) press. Her first studio album ('Introducing') got her an Edison award and later on Laura found herself in the Top Jazz Album charts of leading music industry publication 'Billboard' for several weeks. American magazine Jazzizz even compared Laura to Nathalie Cole in terms of technique and interpretation…
Her catalogue was enriched with studio albums 'Turn out the lamplight' and 'Watch what happens', in which she gave a new dimension to world-renowned songs. Three years ago, Laura performed in the Carré theatre in Amsterdam and, accompanied by the Metropole Orchestra, brought the house down. Images from this concert, of which special video and CD recordings were made, were shown by American television in the spring of 1999 to a television audience of millions. Outside our country's borders too, Laura Fygi is a well-respected artist. In the Far East, and Japan in particular, - as well as in Brazil - her CD's sell like hot cakes.
August, 2001
Tracks:
01 Historia De Un Amor 3.31
02 Quizas, Quizas, Quizas 3.24
03 Perfidia 3.19
04 Abrázame 4.08
05 Como Fué 3.01
06 Solamente Una Vez 2.49
07 Bésame Mucho 3.01
08 Noche De Ronda 3.36
09 Piel Canela 3.03
10 La Puerta 3.37
11 Dimelo 4.19
12 La Mentira 3.49
13 Amor 3.07
14 Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado 3.21
Bonus Tracks:
15 You Belong To My Heart (Solamente Una Vez)
16 Amor (English Version)
17 What A Difference A Day Makes (Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado) |
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No: |
0665632
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