El Curruchá Eliana Cuevas

• 1 Acidito 03:16
• 2 El Curruchá 02:55
• 3 Flor de Mayo 05:25
• 4 Caballo Viejo 03:48
• 5 Caramba 04:04
• 6 Maria Antonia 03:41
• 7 Tonada del Cabrestero 04:27
• 8 San Rafael 03:15
• 9 Aquel Zuliano 04:33
• 10 Mi Querencia 04:03
• 11 Anhelante 04:24
• 12 En un Pedacito de tu Corazón 04:09
• 13 Como Llora una Estrella 03:40
• Total Runtime 51:40

Info for El Curruchá

On her new album, El Curruchá, featuring Aquiles Báez, renowned Venezuelan-Canadian singer/songwriter Eliana Cuevas returns to her roots, offering up a nostalgic homage to the music she grew up listening to in her homeland of Venezuela. The result is a beautifully intimate performance, by turns playful and deeply emotional, featuring virtuosic guitar and vocal work.

The passion and soul at the heart of Venezuelan music is brought to vivid life here. These melody-rich songs will, at various turns, make you want to laugh, cry, dance and sing along, as they explore a full gamut of emotion in intoxicating fashion.

El Curruchá (set for a February 12, 2021 worldwide release on ALMA Records), is a generous 13-song collection featuring imaginative new versions of classic Venezuelan songs of the last 30-50 years. Eliana stresses that “the focus of this album is to showcase traditional compositions from Venezuela. Venezuelan music is a universe of sounds and rhythms as rich and broad as the music from Cuba and Brazil but not as widely known.”

Eliana’s collaborator on the album, Aquiles Báez, is more than an internationally renowned guitarist and composer who has worked with such artists as Paquito D’Rivera and Fareed Haque. He is also a household name and musical hero in Venezuela, one of the biggest proponents of contemporary Venezuelan music and a mentor and an inspiration to a whole generation of musicians there.

Eliana’s long-held dream to create such an album as El Curruchá owes a great deal to Báez, she explains. “Many years ago I listened to an album from a well-known Venezuelan singer, Ilan Chester. His 2001 recording, Corazón Navideño, much like El Curruchá, with just voice and guitar, which, as it happens, was played by Aquiles Báez, way before I met him. I loved and listened to this album many times, and from there came a dream that I’d love to do an album like this, with someone like Aquiles.”

Happily that opportunity came along later, as Cuevas recalls. “When I was recording my album Espejo, I e-mailed him from Canada, hoping that he would play cuatro on a song. He was very receptive to the idea, so we sent each other files, and he played on ‘El Tucusito’.”

“That was our first collaboration, without meeting in person. I then went to Venezuela where we met and collaborated further, and then he brought his trio to Toronto to play some shows with us at the Lulaworld festival. With Aquiles being here, I took the opportunity to record El Curruchá with him, and now the time is right to release it.”

The Toronto recording session, produced and engineered by Cuevas’ husband Jeremy Ledbetter, went very smoothly, as Báez was already very familiar with the material. “Aquiles’ playing is so beautiful, so musical and soulful,” praises Eliana. “Plus he is a lovely human being with a great sense of humour, and we have become good friends.”

The personal and musical empathy of the pair is audible in the warmth of the album. From mellow and soulful compositions to upbeat and witty numbers, Cuevas and Báez remain totally in sync. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than on the title track, one featuring fast and fluent guitar picking and almost impossibly speedy vocals from Eliana.

“El Curruchá” has a special personal significance to Eliana, she explains. “It was a song my father played all the time. Whenever there was a family gathering, he’d pull out the cuatro and play that song. He passed away when I was 11. He loved music and played and sang, and that song is a very important memory from my childhood. Plus it is so much fun!”

Báez contributed one original song, the rhythmic and upbeat “San Rafael”, while Cuevas’ “En Un Pedacito De Tu Corazon” is reprised here, in a stripped-down form.

“Caballo Viejo” “is a classic song that became known outside Venezuela, and it was used as the basis of the Gipsy Kings’ hit "Bamboléo". Eliana notes that “it was written by Simón Díaz. If anybody knows about joropo, a very traditional Venezuelan rhythm, they know him.”

She describes “Maria Antonia” as “another quirky and funny song. It is about a woman who does eccentric things, like showering on the table and sleeping in a laundry tub. ‘Aquel Zuliano’ is built around a very percussive rhythm from Maracaibo called gaita, one usually played around Christmas time.” Another highlight on an album devoid of lowlights is “Flor De Mayo,” a quietly expressive tune showcasing Eliana’s subtle vocal skills.

El Curruchá is the sixth entry in Eliana Cuevas's impressive and eclectic discography. She has never been constrained by genre boxes in her songwriting, drawing freely from jazz, Latin, folk and world music elements.

This stylistic diversity is reflected in the fact she has won a National Jazz Award for Latin Jazz Artist of the Year, two Toronto Independent Music Awards for Best World Music Artist, an Independent Music Award for Best Latin Album in the US, and a Canadian Folk Music Award for World Solo Artist of the Year.

When our current troubled circumstances ease, Eliana is looking forward to touring with Aquiles Báez. In the meantime, this talented pair have brought us El Curruchá, for our great listening pleasure.

Eliana Cuevas, vocals
Aquiles Baez, guitar

Eliana Cuevas
Through years of touring around the world, across Canada, and collaborating with Juno Award-winning performers, Eliana Cuevas has grown into an accomplished singer-songwriter and bandleader with unlimited colours in her compositional and lyrical palette. Among her honours are the National Jazz Award for Latin Jazz Artist of the Year (2009), a nomination for Best World Music Solo Artist at the Canadian Folk Music Awards (2008), a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best World Music Artist(2007), a nomination for Best Latin Song (‘Llegó from ESPEJO) at the Independent Music Awards (2014) and, most recently, an Independent Music Award for Best Latin Album for ESPEJO (2014) and a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best World Music Artist (2014).

Born to a musical family in Venezuela, Cuevas grew up to the sounds of salsa, joropo, pop and Brazilian music, writing her first song by the age of 9. After moving to Toronto, she boldly began using a fake ID to play the city’s top jazz clubs despite being underage. Singing for Brazilian, flamenco and jazz ensembles influenced her eclectic sound on her debut EP Cohesión (2001) and first two albums, Ventura (2004) and Vidas (2007). Her engaging voice and songwriting on topics from adventure to forgiveness wowed the local music scene, hailing Cuevas as “Canada’s Latin Music Queen” (680 News).

Acclaim spread internationally as Cuevas played festivals and theatres in countries from Venezuela to Germany. Following her second album Vidas (2007), Minor Music Records released in Europe an anthology of her music: Luna Llena (2009). She has performed with Juno-winning Latin artists Alex Cuba, Jesse Cook and Jane Bunnett. Cuevas also continues to collaborate with diverse ensembles including Caribbean Jazz powerhouse CaneFire, the Jorge Miguel Flamenco Ensemble, and Juno-nominated jazz composer Darren Sigesmund, touring venues as far as Australia and Japan.

Eliana Cuevas - Espejo 2013Her newest album Espejo (2013) is a true testament to Cuevas’ growth as an artist. Shaped by her international performances, work with acclaimed artists and newfound motherhood, Espejo seamlessly blends genres from blues to pop with Cuevas’ signature soaring vocals and Latin jazz sound. Ingenious producer and composer Jeremy Ledbetter played a key role in encouraging Cuevas to push her creative boundaries on the album, resulting in an eclectic and captivating musical journey.

“Llegó,” Cuevas’ funkiest number, describes the excitement of starting a new journey with a driving bass as strong as her voice and an irresistible drum beat. “El Tucusito” demonstrates her full vocal range amidst a blend of jazz and the fast-paced traditional Venezuelan rhythm of “joropo:” Ledbetter composed the track specifically to showcase Cuevas’ vocal range and skills. The lead single “Melancolía” is a moving story of the hardships of immigration told with delicate vocals and piano. With songs describing everything from her daughter Leila to life after death, Espejo is truly Cuevas’ most dynamic work. Whether you hear Cuevas online, on a recording or in person, you’re sure to be spirited away by the versatile powers of her sound, words and soul.

Booklet for El Curruchá