in memory of Caterina Valente

She lit a fire in my childhood. I will never forget „Lichter von Kopenhagen“. And other songs from early radio days. She was able to elicit the universal from the trivial and take the uncanny out of „exotic otherness“ without exposing it to laughter. (m.e.)

After Caterina Valente passed away on September 9th, my phone spied me posting that clip of Valente and Dean Martin performing “One Note Samba,” which is the most charming thing ever filmed. So I got served this free? bootleg? puzzling assemblage of Caterina Valente and Maria Dolores Pradera songs on SoundCloud, which might be a real album? I cannot tell. The third song, presented here as “Franqueza,” is actually Valente doing “Cucurrucucu Paloma,” and her version is as canonical as the later Caetano Veloso performance I hold so dear. Free, also. (Sasha Frère-Jones)

2 Kommentare

  • flowworker

    „For non guitar players, what she’s doing isn’t easy at all. She’s having a full on conversation with abrupt interjections that have no rhythm and is still playing without missing a single note. Simply spectacular.“

    (David Volger)

  • flowworker

    Click on „Lichter von Kopenhagen“ and you will hear the song (to be found in the introduction of some memory work, where Caterina Valente is written in bold red letters…)

Eine Antwort schreiben

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert