CON ALMA
Con Alma is an album and live digital experience of original works by composer Paola Prestini and vocalist and composer Magos Herrera, along with some classics from the Mexican and Jazz songbook, created and recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, that explores the question of how we can find communion in a time of isolation. The album grew out of the personal and collective experience of this moment of deep division - be it spiritual, ideological, political or geographical - and seeks to use music to create a shared sense of the experiences that we are all going through together, alone.
The Album
Composer Paola Prestini and vocalist/composer Magos Herrera present Con Alma, an operatic tableau on isolation that will be released as an album recording and live digital experience, featuring original works alongside classic songs from the Mexican and Jazz songbook. Created and recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project explores the question of how we can find communion and shared experience in a time of isolation. The album will be released on December 4, 2020 through National Sawdust Tracks, the in-house label of National Sawdust, and a live event will follow on December 13 under the direction of Ashley Tata. The event will present a shared educational and cultural experience to even the most remote communities in Mexico.
“Paola Prestini and Mexico-based singer-songwriter Magos Herrera (plus a crew of musicians) used the lockdown to collaborate at a distance, and the result is a melancholy but uplifting quasi-cantata full of bird calls, phone calls, and calls across frozen borders.”
“Magos Herrera: One of the most original, vitalizing things born of the pandemic—a soulful sonic meditation on isolation.”
“Con Alma is a sonic painting representing a 15-year friendship through a collaborative process of writing, telling the story of shared ambitions and triumphs, love, trials, hope, and losses. The artists we worked with form our international musical family, and it’s a joy to be able to connect through this album, leaving an artifact of this time, and our response to the pandemic, alone, but together.”
Pre-order
Tracklist
1. LA CREACION DE LAS AVES
Lyrics by Magos Herrera, Music by Vinicius Gomes. Featuring Magos Herrera, Vinicius Gomes guitar, Gonzalo Grau-cajón & percussion, and Jeffrey Zeigler-cello. Arranged by Gonzalo Grau.
2. TREE OF 40 FRUIT
Developed by Marisa Michelson and Constellation Chor; Sung and by Marisa Michelson with the voices from the Sound of Isolation campaign. Music by Paola Prestini. Concept Maria Popova and Paola Prestini.
3. ROJO SOL
Music and Lyrics by Magos Herrera featuring Kinan Azmeh-clarinet, Romero Lubambo-guitar, Jeffrey Zeigler-cello, Gonzalo Grau-cajón & percussion. Arranged by Gonzalo Grau.
4. ALMA MUERTA
Featuring Ensemble Sjaella and Magos Herrera. Music by Paola Prestini
5. CON ALMA
Music by Dizzy Gillespie. Featuring Magos Herrera and Musicians of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería with Gonzalo Grau-Cajón-percussion. Arranged by Diego Schissi
6. FRATRES
Music by Paola Prestini featuring Ensemble Sjaella and Magos Herrera
7. INTERLUDE: THE SOUND OF ISOLATION
A soundscape by Sxip Shirey serves as an intermission of sorts, bringing the listener to the sounds of isolation and communion that we experienced in our respective countries-from church bells, to “la bestia”, the train that carries migrants towards the US, to birds taking over the city of San Miguel de Allende, to city sounds.
8. THRUSH SONG
Music by Paola Prestini. Text by Maria Popova. Featuring Young People's Chorus of New York City and Magos Herrera. Soundscape by Sxip Shirey.
9. CUCURRUCUCU
Lyrics and Music by Tomás Méndez. Featuring Magos Herrera and Musicians of Orquesta Sinfonica de Minería. Arranged by Diego Schissi.
Produced by: Magos Herrera & Paola Prestini
Label: National Sawdust Tracks
Release year 2020