Perla Batalla - Heaven And Earth: The Mestiza Voyage

Size: 122,8 MB
Time: 52:40
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2000
Styles: Pop Folk
Art: Front

01. Teotihuacan (7:00)
02. Heaven And Earth (4:36)
03. Tears Of The Sun (4:32)
04. The First Time I Felt Rain (4:58)
05. Burning (4:31)
06. Turtle Island (4:15)
07. Starbound (3:45)
08. Eternity (3:08)
09. Out Of The Labyrinth (5:06)
10. Salvation (5:00)
11. Making Up For Lost Time (5:43)

"Mestiza" refers to a woman of mixed Native American and European ancestry, and it would certainly have been nice if the liner notes to Heaven and Earth: The Mestiza Voyage would have explained to the uninitiated what "Mestiza" means and what this multifaceted, multi-stylistic journey is about -- something to clue listeners in to the overall concept and storyline. Instead, listeners must decipher this worldbeat/folk/rock excursion through travelogue and spacy lyrical images, mainly in English and a few in foreign tongues. Batalla has a powerful, clear voice that can be hypnotic and mystical (on the atmospheric opening track "Teotihuacan") or straightforward and edgy (on the percussive folk-rocker "Heaven and Earth"). "Tears of the Sun" has an emotional intensity about it, but again, the images of sun and Milky Way without an accompanying road map don't make enough sense. "Burning" offers a cool Brazilian lilt, while "Turtle Island" has a '60s "Ode to Billy Joe" kind of air. From titles beginning with "Burning" through "Out of the Labyrinth" and "Salvation," the theme of the Mestiza's spiritual redemption seems to emerge. But Batalla shouldn't make listeners work so hard to figure that out. ~ by Jonathan Widran

Heaven And Earth

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Perla Batalla - Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen

Styles: Vocal

Year: 2005

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 53:09

Size: 122,0 MB

Art: Front

(4:40)  1. If It Be Your Will

(4:21)  2. Seems So Long ago Mancy

(4:04)  3. Coming Back to You

(5:23)  4. Dance me to the end of Love

(6:58)  5. So Long Marianne

(3:14)  6. Came so far for Beauty

(6:16)  7. Ballad of the Absent Mare

(5:11)  8. Famous Blue Raincoat

(6:55)  9. Bird On the Wire

(6:02) 10. Suzanne

Leonard Cohen’s gruff voice has kept many from properly appreciating the brilliance and utter romanticism of his songs. Perla Batalla here lovingly wraps her warm voice around 10 of them to glorious results. The best are the ones where she takes the most liberties: “Famous Blue Raincoat” backed by a string quartet, a jazzy “Seems So Long Ago, Nancy,” “Ballad of the Absent Mare” as a duet with David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, “Dance Me to the End of Love” as a duet with Bill Gable partially translated into Spanish, “Suzanne” cleverly interpolating bits of Steven Foster’s “O Susanna.” The sound is sumptuous. Engineer/mixer Leanne Unger is an excellent choice for the project as she has worked on many of Cohen’s own albums over the years. Her sympathy and love for Cohen’s songs, plus her familiarity with them, greatly enhances the album. The three cover shots of Perla Batalla and Leonard Cohen sharing warm moments speaks volumes both to Perla’s sincerity and love for Cohen’s songs and Cohen’s endorsement of Perla’s work. Beautifully conceived and executed, Bird on the Wire is a rewarding listening experience I find myself returning to frequently. It is every bit the equal of Jennifer Warnes’ classic Cohen tribute album Famous Blue Raincoat. For those uninitiated to the glories of the songs of Leonard Cohen this is a wonderful introduction. For the rest of us it is simply heavenly.~ Michael Tearson http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Wire-Songs-Leonard-Cohen/dp/B000CAJQC6

Bird on the Wire: The Songs of Leonard Cohen

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Perla Batalla - Perla Batalla

Styles: Vocal, Folk

Year: 1994

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 57:04

Size: 130,9 MB

Art: Front

(4:03)  1. I've Been Gone Too Long

(5:04)  2. If You Only Knew

(4:59)  3. Crazy Love

(4:51)  4. Make It Simple

(3:16)  5. China Doll

(5:23)  6. This Too Shall Pass

(5:12)  7. Seems So Long Ago Nancy

(5:11)  8. Tengo Fe

(4:18)  9. Sixteen Tons

(3:43) 10. I See You

(4:58) 11. Cu Cu Rru Cu Cu Paloma

(6:00) 12. Innocence

Vocalist, composer, and arranger Perla Batalla was born in Los Angeles, CA. Her father was a musician and owned a popular record store. There were very few forms of music that Batalla didn't get a chance to experience early in her childhood in that busy family store. She found she loved most kinds. Batalla won a scholarship to study at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. Her voice was impressive enough to land her vocal roles in both film and television. After a while she became a background singer for Leonard Cohen and K. D. Lang. By 1993, Batalla was making her first attempts at a solo career. In a year's time, she had recorded a self-titled debut solo album under the Discovery Records label. It took four years before she did a sophomore recording, Mestiza. In 2000, she added a third album to her list of accompaniments, Heaven and Earth: The Mestiza Voyage. Some of the tracks from her albums are "First Time I Felt Rain," "Making Up for Lost Time," "Burning," "Out of the Labyrinth," and "Heaven and Earth." In between time in the recording studio, Batalla performs at festivals and clubs and composes new material. She has worked with numerous artists, including cellist Peggy Baldwin, flutist John Zeretzke, percussionist Michael Faue, guitarist David Batteau, bassist Simeon Pillich, and many others.~Charlotte Dillon http://www.allmusic.com/artist/perla-batalla-mn0000314507/biography

Perla Batalla

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