Niña Pastori ★★★ Place and date: Jardins de Terramar. Sitges (VIII/5/2023)
María Rosa García, from Cádiz, for Niña Pastori art, performed at the Jardins de Terramar Festival in Sitges, with all the tickets sold, in the tour to present her new album Camino, the eleventh in a career that has already reached the quarter of a century. The singer appeared accompanied by two choristers and a quintet of musicians led by her partner Julio Jiménez, alias Chaboli, who alternated on percussion and guitar and also had a solo moment showing her pride with Gitano soy.
The concert began with a tribute to two singers from their land, Juan Villar and Rancapino, who appeared in a video to explain the difficulty of transmitting feelings through alegrías and where the famous “tirititrán” comes from. After demonstrating the jondo power of her voice, they soon made it clear that the evening would transition between waters, or styles, with the version of El cantante by Héctor Lavoe, with the piano imposing the tumbao and the congas making smoke.
The salsa accent continued with the new song Regoleta, also with some pre-recorded wind instruments that it was not clear if they were real or synthetic. The synthesizer once again weighed down the bulería, which was bad. Yo naci para venir. Other premieres were Pon que dale, in the manner of flamenco-pop, and a Bon dia that is not a version of Els Pets, but a song dedicated to Barcelona, again with the dominant Latin accent by flag.
There was no shortage of several medleys of past songs, and the version of Cuando nadie me ve by Alejandro Sanz or his own great success, Quién va querer, was especially well received. Back to the new material, the bulería Y desperdente, with lyrics tribute to Camarón, Paco de Lucía and Lola Flores, he limped again due to another synthetic arrangement.
The desire to please a diverse audience led him to include rock electric guitar in the repechage of Cuando te beso, in a La habitación with choirs in the manner of Las Grecas or in a Desde la azotea with a solemn piano and a good crack of voice. Thus, what for some is a sign of his eclecticism, for others it is a fusion of styles that is difficult to digest at times.
