From pop crossovers to jazz journeys.

• Author: Holston, Mark
• Position: MUSIC NOTES - Sound recording review

Andrea Echeverri Andrea Echeverri (Nacional Records)

Sara Valenzuela Lado Este (Nacional Records)

Fernanda Porto Giramundo (Trama 978-2)

Pop balladry appears to be taking on a new image, as studio wizards continue to make advances using electronic samples and other digital devices to bend and polish traditional sounds. However, as demonstrated by three new releases, the art form remains one where the ultimate success lies in the hands of the singer-songwriter at the helm.

Andrea Echeverri, long known as the front-woman of the aedaimed Colombian rock band Aterciopelados, makes an attention-grabbing debut as a solo artist on her self-titled release, weaving wistful melodies and cutting lyrics, often with overtly sexual references, into a captivating whole. The inviting "Quedate" (Stay), with Echeverri's affectionate voice soaring over a simple arrangement for rhythm guitar and percussion, is a key to her style--intimate and arresting.

While Echeverri's session features many of the enduring attributes of organic, acoustic rock, Mexico's Sara Valenzuela, another standout artist for Nacional Records, a label specializing in what's become known as "alternative Latin music," opts for a more Euro-pop oriented style on her debut. The former lead singer with the Mexican alternative pop group La Dosis, Valenzuela displays cool and breathy vocals framed by steely electronic arrangements and techno beats, much in the tradition of such genre pioneers as Julieta Venegas and Ely Guerra. Noted guitarist Marc Rebot is part of the international cast that helps make Valenzuela's program so appealing.

Brazil's Fernanda Porto layers choppy techno rhythms over a sturdy samba base on a program of self-penned works and Chico Buarque's "Roda viva," which features the composer as a vocal partner. Noted guitarist Ulisses Rocha is a constant presence, but Giramundo is Porto's show--she plays guitar, piano, percussion, and saxophone and bandies all of the programming chores in addition to wrapping the whole package in her flirtatious vocals.

Ozomatli Live at the Fillmore (Concord Records CCD2-2298-2)

Yerba Buena Island Life (Razor & Tie 82942-2)

Nortec Collective Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3 (Nacional NCL 63747-2)

One of the most promising trends in popular music has been the growth of bands that base their sound on successful fusions of traditional and contemporary styles. For the past decade, groups like Argentina's Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and Venezuela's Los Amigos...