Search - Francesca Ancarola :: Lonquen: Tribute to Victor Jara

Petroglyph Records is proud to announce the March 13, 2007, release of Lonquén by Chilean vocalist and composer Francesca Ancarola. Lonquén pays tribute to the work of renowned folksinger-songwriter and political activist Victor Jara who was brutally murdered by Chile's military dictatorship in 1973. Only a vocalist/arranger of Ancarola's skill and maturity could translate these essential Chilean folk songs, authentic songs of the people, into an international musical language that mixes contemporary jazz with South American traditional musical genres so successfully. Ancarola made her US debut at New York's Joe's Pub in January of 2007 to a sold-out room, accompanied by the band which also appears on the album -- bassist Rodrigo Galarce, electric guitarist Federico Danneman and Daniel Rodriguez on drums with guest Misha Piatigorsky on keyboards. While in New York, the singer performed live on New York Public Radio WNYC for the acclaimed weekday music program "Soundcheck" and also recorded interviews with Public Radio International's international news daily "The World" and the arts and culture weekly "Latino USA", hosted by PBS newscaster Maria Hinojosa. With five albums to her credit and a demanding international touring schedule, Ancarola is a much sought-after session singer in Santiago. She has worked with well-known Chilean musicians Antonio Restucci, Federico Dannemann and Carlos Aguirre. She has sung with Pedro Aznar, the INTI-ILLIMANI group and, most recently, with the esteemed Mexican pianist and composer Armando Manzanero. She has performed by invitation for the Chilean congress. The singer admits that her musical career has been profoundly influenced by Jara's songs and by his courage to serve as a conduit for the stories and voices of the common Chilean. "What could have been happening with Victor today or the light that his art could have shown on a whole generation of artists," she says, "constitutes a vacuum that only recently has been reevaluated, since his work has begun to be appreciated without the prejudice of the passions of a particular era in history." The recording of Lonquén was made possible with the support of FONDART and the Fundación Victor Jara. "A native of Santiago, Chile, Ms. Ancarola has a wonderfully warm, supple voice that serves as the centerpiece on this album of songs by Victor Jara, the composer, folk singer and political activist tortured and murdered in 1973 by members of Chile's military regime. She's also an extraordinary arranger who's broadened the platform of Jara's folk tunes by adding elements of jazz and blues. She exploits her shrewd arrangements in duets with bassist Rodrigo Galarce and deft call-and-responses with electric-guitarist Federico Dannemann during full band performances, or by overdubbing her voice to create a lilting choir above layers of percussion. It's a satisfying, always surprising outing." -Wall St. Journal "While Ancarola's arrangements are often quite different from Jara's own folksy style, she possesses a warm, rich voice that conveys the emotion that oozed from Jara's own work, and she breathes new life into the music by not copying the original ideas but by recasting it." -Allmusic.com