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Marta Topferova
Everything about this graceful singer seems destined to surprise. Born in the Czech Republic city of Ostrava, Marta Topferova has carved a unique Latino niche in her adopted home city of New York. Her low-key misty voice envelops pan-Latin sounds she has explored since she was eight years old. Topferova brings to life lyrics she composes on existential matters dealing with water, the sea and impressionistic urban landscapes. Her rhythms go from Cuban son to Argentinian tango, via Venezuelan vals. A profound artist who has created intriguing musical bridges across the America’s while anchored in her Czech roots. In 2006 she brought out her fourth album “Flor Nocturna”.
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La Marea
From a watery distance listeners might confuse Marta Topferova with Lhasa. The 29-year-old shares several qualities with the author of “The living road”: a graciously husky voice that belies her age, profound lyrics and a remarkable immersion into the Latino musical culture. Where Topferova seems to top her talented counterpart is the depth and texture of her vocal explorations, as well as her virtuosity on the Venezuelan cuatro string instrument. “La marea” is a showcase album of the Czech’s maturity and talent. She talks you through her poetic vision of “La Gran Manzana” (the Big Apple) one moment, then takes you on a hallucinating voyage into the garden of Eden in “Limonero”, her voice rising to the occasion like the foam off waves.
The result is ten captivating tracks dominated by Topferova’s voice and the folk harp wielded by Edmar Castañeda. The other guests add an instrumental texture that makes this album multi-layered and penetrating. A French horn by Chris Comer, the accordion of Angus Martin, Yulia Musayelyan’s flute and the percussions of Neil Ochoa complete the picture in Topferova’s luminous second record.
The Czech arrived on American soil in 1987 and cannot explain her fascination for the Latin American sounds she encountered. Perhaps it was the songs by the Chilean group Inti-Illimani that her actor-parents listened to. Or the Hispanic students she befriended at her school in Seattle. Be that as it may, these rites of passage inspired her to take off for Spain to study flamenco and she further impregnated herself with Latin sounds in Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
All these experiences transpire in “La marea”. This is a delightful musical voyage into a new pan-American sound where each song is steeped in the power of South America’s imagery and metaphors. Now Topferova says she dreams of painting a musical canvas between this acquired education and her East European heritage. The closing song, “Fin de fiesta”, seems to cautiously draw the first lines, as we waltz into a room of joyous partiers singing to the accordion, klezmer-style. The end of one chapter…And the beginning of a new one?
May 2005
Daniel Brown
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| Discography |
Flor Nocturna
(Album)
World Village
2006 |
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La Marea
(Album)
World Village
2005 |
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Sueño Verde
(Album)
Circular Moves Rykodisc
2003 |
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