Alba Molina, El Beso Review

Alba Molina is a vocalist and songwriter from Spain that marries the sound of flamenco, jazz, and blues. Her combination of these diverse music genres and styles is also augmented with pop, hip-hop, bolero, Brazilian and Caribbean rhythms. Her talents extend past her unique vocal color and abilities as she also has a successful modeling career. She comes from a family of famous artists. Her father, Manuel Molina, is a renowned guitar player, and her mother, Manuela Montoya, is a renowned flamenco dancer and singer. The famous couple performed under the name “Lole y Manuel,” and during the 70s, they were the most popular artists in Spain. They became famous worldwide when Quentin Tarantino chose their song “Tu Mirá” for his film Kill Bill Volume 2. Molina is now releasing her latest album called El Beso.

Bottom Line: El Beso is Molina’s ninth album, and it has been five years since she has released a studio album. The nine tracks feature new material and arrangements that the gypsy singer fuses the sounds of flamenco, pop, and jazz. The originals songs where composed for Molina by artist friends such as, among others, Alejandro Sanz (‘Tú,’ where his son Angelo and Andreas Lutz from the O’funk’illo group also collaborate), Dani Bonilla, Fran Cortés Chiquetete and Jairo de Remacha, author of “Dicen,” the first single features the Cordovan musician Lin Cortés. “Dicen” is a swaying flamenco selection with Molina’s rich vocals singing the relaxed melody that is enforced by Cortés. The piano and trumpet solos have elements of jazz and Latin jazz. “Loca Me Llama (Crazy He Calls Me)” represents Molina’s approach to a jazz standard. She maintains her flamenco inflections during the melody, which adds an exciting aspect to this well-known jazz standard. The piano playing is lovely, but the tuning and eq are just ok. “No Me Duele” is a beautiful selection that allows Molina’s various vocal colors to shine through in style and robustness. Overall, Molina continues to create music that is rich in the flamenco style with passion and authority. That’s the short of it!