Kany Garcia, Tommy Torres 2013 Latin Pop Albums Overlooked
Kany Garcia and Tommy Torres launched very good Latin pop albums in 2013. Both albums received nominations for Latin Grammy awards in 2013, but otherwise seemed to have been overlooked by the Latin music media.
Both “Kany Garcia” and “12 Historias” were released by Puerto Rican singer-songwriters. Coincidentally, both are guitar players that use a touch of folk and rock to spice their Latin pop music. Even though I enjoyed these albums, I never found the time last year to review them, so here’s a brief summary of them!
Kany Garcia’s “Kany Garcia” 2012
Relased in October 2012, the self-titled “Kany Garcia” is the sophomore album for the Puerto Rican singer-songwritter. The album has 12 songs, and I thought it marked a big leap from her debut album “Boleto de Entrada” (2009). I loved the 1st half of the album, as Kany showed a style with a bit more folk. Examples of this are “Me Quedo” and “Que Te Vaya Mal”. She also used at times a bit more pop-Rock like in my album favorite “Cuando Se Va el Amor”.
The 2nd part of the album tends to be more Latin pop and ballads, which was Kany’s focus on “Boleto de Entrada”. In these songs she performs excellently. It’s just that in the ballads she sounds like yet another ballad singer, but when she goes more pop-rock-folk, her talent seems to shine more brightly!
All in all, Kany Garcia delivered a Latin pop album with great written songs. She used a combination of pop-folk, pop-rock, and ballads that should please those that like a little of each of these Latin music styles.
Tommy Torres “12 Historias”
The 4th studio CD of the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter was a big surprise for me. This is because I was not very familiar with Tommy’s music. The combination of guest artists, good spot-on songwriting, and fantastic musicality, make this album one of the best listens in 2012. It’s no wonder it got nominated for the 2013 Latin Grammy for Best Album by Singer-Songwriter.
The 1st song of the album, “El Abrigo”, features Ricky Martin and has a cameo appearance by Alejandro Sanz. Sanz is funny as he appears at the end of the song asking if he can participate, only to be told by Ricky Martin that the song was about over. From there the albums just keeps picking up steam. It features duets with Ricardo Arjona (“Mientras Tanto”), Nelly Furtado (“Sin Ti”), and Puerto Rican diva Ednita Nazario (“El Rio”).
“Querido Tommy” was the 1st album single and a public favorite due to how it came about. A tweet from a Tommy Torres fan to Tommy’s twitter account asked the Latin Grammy nominee for advise in his quest for a woman’s love. Tommy did respond to the fan, and subsequently found the whole situation so moving that he captured it in nice song. It’s one of my favorites along with “El Abrigo”.
Tommy Torres “12 Historias En Vivo”
Now Tommy Torres just released a CD/DVD of the concert he performed for “12 Historias”. “12 Historias En Vivo” has 24 songs, including most of the “12 Historias” songs and as well as some of his most popular and favorite songs.
If you like Latin pop, I suggest you take a look at these 2 (or perhaps 3) great albums that are sure to delight Latin pop music fans.