Joining forces with her partner, Spanish musician Voctor Herrero, alt. folk queen Josephine Foster presents a freshly arranged rendering of Federico Garcia Lorca's popular folk song collection Las Canciones Populares Espanolas. The songbook was outlawed during Franco's dictatorship but had previously been recorded in 1931 by Argentinean flamenco dancer La Argentinita. The renditions laid down here are all characterised by a live, simply mic-ed sound that calls upon a wide variety of Iberian instruments including castanets, rociero drum and Portuguese guitar. The album credits reveal that Foster really got into the swing of things, singing and dancing her way through these pieces, as would presumably have been intended in their original context within Spanish folk tradition. The performances (laid down live in Mecina Bombaron, Granada last summer) come across as very highly accomplished (at least to an outsider's ears) and Foster's unique, witchy vocal sounds just as compelling in Spanish as it does in her native tongue.
Josephine Foster bio:
As a teen, Colorado-born singer/songwriter/guitarist Josephine Foster honed her vocal skills at weddings and funerals. Her initial career aspirations leaned toward opera, but as she neared her twenties it was the music of Tin Pan Alley and early British folk that became her muse, resulting in a series of demos that would eventually morph into 2000’s ukulele-heavy There Are Eyes Above and 2001’s collection of children’s songs entitled Little Life. She eventually relocated to Chicago, where she spent her days as a singing teacher and her evenings performing with her various bands, including Born Heller (a sparse and spooky duo featuring free jazz bassist Jason Ajemian) and the Children’s Hour (a whimsical indie pop band with fellow Windy City songwriter Andrew Bar). Foster returned to her solo career for 2004’s All the Leaves Are Gone, a ghostly and occasionally jarring collection of folk-infused psychedelic rock tunes with her newly formed backing band, the Supposed. It was followed in 2005 by the quiet, rustic, and bluesy Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, an acid-washed rendering of 19th century-style art songs culled from the works of Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, was released in 2006, followed by This Coming Gladness in 2008 and Graphic as a Star in 2009. <AMG>
01. (02:58) Los Cuatro Muleros
02. (05:18) Los Pelegrinitos
03. (03:01) LaLas Morillas de Jaen
04. (03:00) Anda Jaleo
05. (02:14) Las Tres Hojas
06. (06:49) Los Mozos de Monlean
07. (03:17) Sevillanas del Siglo XVIII
08. (02:29) Los Reyes de la Baraja
09. (02:34) El Cafe de Chinitas
10. (04:04) Zorongo
11. (03:46) Nana de Sevilla
