Magos Herrera: Remanso

April 13, 2022

7 to 8 pm ET

Americas Society

680 Park Avenue

New York

Overview

New York-based, Grammy-nominated, Mexican singer and composer Magos Herrera is one of the most expressive, beautiful voices in the contemporary Latin American jazz scene. Herrera is best known for her eloquent vocal improvisation and her bold style, which embraces elements of contemporary jazz with Latin American melodies and rhythms, in a style that elegantly blends boundaries. In her return to our stage, she is joined by the Magos Herrera Quartet, an acoustic quartet that incorporates harmonic jazz principles and improvisational elements.

Magos Herrera Quartet and a string quartet comprised of members of the orchestral collective The Knights will present music that Magos produced during pandemic quarantine. The program will include new arrangements commissioned by Americas Society, songs included in the 2020 album Con Alma, and new original music written by Herrera with support from a Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works grant.

Magos Herrera Quartet

Magos Herrera, voice
Vinícius Gomes, guitar
Sam Minaie, bass
Alex Kautz, bass

With

Alex Fortes and Yaira Matyakubova, violins
Mario Gotoh, viola
Jia Kim, cello

Program Notes

New York-based, Grammy-nominated, Mexican singer and composer Magos Herrera is one of the most expressive, beautiful voices in the contemporary Latin American jazz scene. Herrera is best known for her eloquent vocal improvisation and her bold style, which embraces elements of contemporary jazz with Latin American melodies and rhythms, in a way that elegantly blends boundaries. In her return to our stage, she will be joined by the Magos Herrera Quartet, an acoustic quartet that incorporates harmonic jazz principles and improvisational elements that includes guitarist Vinícius Gomes, bassist Sam Minaie, and drummer Alex Kautz.

The literal translation of remanso in English is “backwater,” a remote or isolated place that could also be where the flow of a river runs slowly or stops. It can be a place like a monastery, a river bank, or a haven of rest and tranquility.

Humanity has experienced a pause for the last year and a half due to the pandemic. We all weathered isolation, loss, and grieving, but were also provided with a space to reflect on the unconscious inertia of our daily lives, the constant anticipation mindsets, exhaustion and separation from what is essential as individuals and as societies. For Magos, it was a gate to transit a personal pilgrimage to ground where her voice belongs, to continue nurturing a musical path filled with purpose and an invitation to create a conscious, truer connection with the world.

Magos Herrera Quartet and a string quartet composed of members of the orchestral collective The Knights will present music that Magos produced, recorded, or wrote during quarantine. The program will include new arrangements commissioned by Americas Society, songs included in the 2020 album Con Alma, and new original music written by Herrera with support from a Chamber Music Americas New Jazz Works grant.

Musicians

Magos Herrera Jazz Quartet

Magos Herrera, voice
Vinícius Gomes, guitar
Sam Minaie, bass
Alex Kautz, drums

String quartet (members of The Knights)

Alex Fortes and Yaira Matyakubova, violins
Mario Gotoh, viola
Caitlin Sullivan, cello

The Songs

"Milonga Gris," (Carlos Aguirre). Arrangement by Sebastian Zubieta.
"Samba em preludio," (Vinicius de Moraes, Baden Powell). Arrangement by Jaques Morelenbaum, commissioned by Americas Society.
"Papalote" (Magos Herrera). Written with support from a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, arranged by Diego Schissi.
"The calling" (Herrera). Written with support from a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, arranged by Gonzalo Grau.
"Choro de Lua" (Herrera). Written with support from a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, arranged by Diego Schissi.
"Cucurrucucu" (Tomas Mendez). Recorded in the album Con Alma.
"Remanso" (Herrera). Written with support from a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, arranged by Diego Schissi.
"Aire" (Herrera). Written with support from a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, arranged by Gonzalo Grau.
"A redoblar" (Mauricio Ubal and Rubén Olivera).

Lyrics and Translations

"A redoblar" (Mauricio Ubal and Rubén Olivera)

Volverá... la alegría	Happiness will return
A enredarse con tu voz...	To get tangled up in your voice
A medirse... en tus manos	To take your hands
Y a apoyarse en tu sudor.	And lean on your sweat
Borrará duras muecas pintadas	It will erase hard grins painted
Sobre un frágil cartón de silencio	On a fragile silent piece of cardboard.
Y el aliento de murga saldrá...	And the breath of murga will go out.
A redoblar, a redoblar	Let’s roll, let’s roll,
Muchachos esta noche	Guys, tonight
Cada cual sobre su sombra	Each one on their shadow
Cada cual sobre su asombro	Each one on their surprise
A redoblar, desterrando	Let’s roll, banishing,
Desterrando la falsa emoción	Banishing false emotion
El la-la-la..., el beso fugaz	The lah—lah-lah, teh fleeting kiss
La mascarita de la fe...	The little mask of faith.
A redoblar, a redoblar	Let’s roll, let’s roll,
muchachos, que la noche	Guys, the night
Nos presta sus camiones	Lends us her trucks
Y en su espalda de balcones	And on her back of balconies
Y zaguán, nos esperan	And porches, we will find
Nos esperan otros redoblantes	We will find other snare drums,
Otra voz..., harta de sentir...	Another voice, fed up of feeling
La mordedura del dolor	The bite of pain.
A redoblar muchachos la esperanza	Let's redouble, guys, our hope,
Que su latido insista en nuestra sangre	Let its heartbeat insist in our blood
Para que ésta nunca olvide...	So that it may never forget
su rumbo	Its way
Porque el corazón... no quiere	Because the heart ... does not want
Entonar más retiradas.	To sing any more farewells.

"Samba em Preludio" (Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell)

Eu sem você não tenho porquê	Without you, I have no reasons.
Porque sem você não sei nem chorar	Because without you I can't even cry.
Sou chama sem luz, jardim sem luar	I am flame without light, garden without moonlight,
Luar sem amor, amor sem se dar	Moonlight without love, love without giving.
Eu sem você sou só desamor	There is no love without you
Um barco sem mar, um campo sem flor	A boat without a sea, a field without a flower
Tristeza que vai, tristeza que vem	Sadness that goes, sadness that comes
Sem você, meu amor, eu não sou ninguém	Without you my love I'm nobody
Ai, que saudade	Oh, I miss you
Que vontade de ver renascer nossa vida	I want to see our life reborn,
Volta querido,	Come back,
Teus abraços precisam dos meus	Your hugs need mine,
Os meus braços precisam dos teus	My arms need yours.
Estou tão sozinha	I'm so alone,
Tenho os olhos cansados de olhar para o além	My eyes are tired of staring at nothing
Vem ver a vida	Come and see life,
Sem você, meu amor, eu não sou ninguém	Without you my love I'm nobody.

"The Calling" (Magos Herrera)

I can see the city lights, silence in the night, calling	Puedo ver las luces de la ciudad silencio en la noche, llamando
Thousand prayers passing by, like white kites in the sky, calling	Mil oraciones pasando como cometas blancos en el cielo, llamando
Moonlight chasing violins, to unfold the song within, calling	Luz de luna persiguiendo violines para desplegar la canción que lleva dentro, llamando
Tides of dreams of hopes and wings with colors that I’ve never seen, calling	Mareas de sueños de esperanzas y alas con colores que nunca he visto, llamando
Here comes the wind singing a song, awakening every star, calling	Aquí viene el viento cantando una canción despertando cada estrella, llamando
And I hear the world singing along, arpeggios in the dark, calling	Y escucho al mundo cantando arpegios en la oscuridad, llamando
No where to go, no where to hide,	No hay a donde ir, no hay donde esconderse
Nothing on the other side, calling	Nada al otro lado, llamando
My heart is a sacred space in time,	Mi corazón es un espacio sagrado en el tiempo y,
My love for you my holy land, calling.	Mi amor por ti mi tierra prometida, llamando.

"Remanso" (Magos Herrera)

Un cielo arrugado de espuma	A crumpled sky of foam
abraza a la tarde que quiere llorar.	embraces the afternoon that wants to cry.
Se pinta un sendero de bruma,	A path of mist is painted.
pececitos blancos que vienen y van	little white fish that come and go.
A la orilla del mar un árbol los mira pasar	On the seashore a tree watches
Con su cabellera de plumas	With their feathered hair
las aves borrachas de tanto cantar,	the birds are drunk from singing,
enredan sus pechos luna	They tangle their breasts that seem the moon
por entre las ramas del árbol que está,	among the branches of the tree that is,
cansado de sol cansado,	tired of sun,
esperando la noche llegar.	waiting for the night to come.
Debajo de la sombra el árbol	Under the tree shade,
Estas tú	There you are.

"Aire" (Magos Herrera)

Como el aire que va, llego a tu orilla	Just like the air goes, I reach your shore
Por la ruta de sol que trajo el dia	along the luminous path that the day brought.
El arrullo del mar que teje el tiempo	The cooing of the sea is weaving time
De arpegios que van hasta este puerto,	of arpeggios that arrive into this port,
Aire, aire!	Air, air!
Puedo ser marea que se enreda, me enredo en tus besos de hiedra,	I can be the tide that tangles, I tangle inside your ivy kisses,
Y con el rumor de las estrellas, bailamos por entre las piedras.	And with the stars rumor, we dance among the rocks.
Todo se ilumina, delirio que luz, que va	Everything lights up, delirium of light, that goes
Mi cuerpo camina de tu mano el aire, va	Holding your hand my body goes like the air.
Nardos y poemas que naufragan en mi voz que se pierde en las venas	Nards and poems that are shipwrecked in my voice that gets lost in the veins
Y un canto despierta en la memoria soñamos por entre las piernas.	A new song awakens in the memory as we dream between our legs.
Todo se ilumina, delirio que luz, que va	Everything lights up, delirium that light, that goes
Mi cuerpo camina de tu mano el aire, va	My body walks from your hand the air goes

"Cucurrucucu" (Tomás Mendez)

Dicen que por las noches	They say every night
No mas se la iba en puro llorar	he was purely a flowing river of tears;
Dicen que no dormía	they say he didn't sleep
No mas se la iba en puro tomar	but drinking to drown
Juran que el mismo cielo	They swear that even the skies
Se estremecía al oír su llanto	shudder with pity to his sad wails
Como sufrió por ella	How he suffered for her,
Que hasta en su muerte	That even in death
La fue llamando.	He called for her.
Cucurrucucu cantaba, ayayayaya, reía	Cucurrucucu, he sang, ayayayaya, he laughed,
Ayayayaya lloraba	Ayayayaya, eh cried.
De pasión mortal moría.	He died of mortal passion.
Que una paloma triste	That a sad dove,
Muy de mañana le iba a cantar	Early in the morning sang to him
A la casita sola con sus puertas de par en par	In the lonely little house, with doors wide open.
Juran que esa paloma	They swear that that dove
No es otra cosa mas que su alma	Is nothing but his soul
Que todavía la espera	That is still waiting for her.
A que regrese la desdichada	For her return.
Cucurrcu paloma.	Cucurrucucu, my dove,
Cucurrucucu no llores	Cucurrucucu, don't cry.
Las piedras jamas paloma	The stones, never, my dove
Que van a saber de amores	What do they know about love!
Cucurrucu cucurrucucu	Cucurrucucu, cucurrucucu
Cucucurrucu paloma ya no le llores	Cucurrucucu, my dove, don't cry for him.

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