Eliana Cuevas’ Creative Latin Jazz in “Espejos”

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Talent and creativity are a combination that excites me in Latin music, and Venezuelan singer Eliana Cuevas has delivered a very original Latin Jazz album.

The Toronto-based singer is another of those hidden gems to those of us outside the growing Toronto Latin music scene. In “Espejos”, her 4th recording, Eliana Cuevas combines her poetic song-writing with varied musical styles, all centered around Latin Jazz.

Eliana Cuevas in the cover of her Jazz album "Espejo"
“Espejos” is a great album musically and lyrically in Spanish by Venezuelan jazz singer Eliana Cuevas.

The musical lineup is impressive, with a total of 20 musicians participating in the recording of “Espejo”. This lineup is led by Jeremy Ledbetter, who is the pianist, multi-intrumentalist, arranger, and main producer of this album. He makes a great team with Eliana, and between the two they produced an album that has been awarded as Best Latin Album by the Independent Music Awards (2014).

“Espejo” includes 10 original songs, all (except one) composed by Eliana Cuevas, with “El Tucusito” written by Jeremy Ledbetter; a song that showcases the vocal diestry of Eliana.

Innovative, Poetic, Latin Jazz with SpanishVocals in “Espejo”

Beautiful Voice – this is my 1st Eliana Cuevas album, so I was new to her incredible beautiful and versatil voice. She can go up and down the musical scales, and improvises and decorates the music with incredible good taste.

Creative Music – the music in “Espejo” is based in Latin Jazz, but incorporates elements of pop, Afro -Caribbean, and Venezuelan Joropo, among its rythms. For example, the initial song of “Estrellita” starts with a piano riff that leads to Eliana matching the fast pace music with equally fast and rhythmical vocals.

Poetic Songs in Spanish Vocals – one of my favorites is “Agua, Cangrejo, y Sal” for the poetic lyrics evoking the creativity we can leverage in life. “Nueva Vida”, “Llego”, and “Melancolia” are among the lyrically inspiring songs I found in “Espejo”. The beautiful conclusion of the album with “Antito”, which closes with Eliana’s daughter Leila singing along the her mother, puts the final cute touch on the album.

Opportunities Missed by “Espejo”

Jazz singer Eliana Cuevas in drawing with quote.
Eliana Cuevas has a creative talent that is exposed in this quote.

None – I rarely don’t find any opportunities for improvement in an album, but this album is so original that there is not much I can add.

Recommendation for “Espejo”

I loved “Espejo” for its creative music and poetic lyrics. Eliana Cuevas uses her voice in very creative ways, demonstrating how the voice can be a musical instrument as powerful as any other.

The combination of songs, voice, and music, make “Espejo” a cherished addition to my music library.

Video of the Making of “Espejo”

Here is a promotional video of the making of “Espejo”, with some clips of the music in it.
Enjoy!

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