Mastretta - Luna De Miel

Let me begin by saying that I completely agree with peerless’ review of Café Tacuba’s Cuarto Camino’s (See December 2003 reviews). So, in honor of President Bush’s recent proposal to relax immigration laws, I have decided to follow peerless’ lead by exploring a couple more Spanish/Mexican artists. I will begin with Mastretta’s Luna de Miel. *** Before I go any further, let me add that I don’t speak Spanish. Therefore, my review will be based strictly on musical content. The way it should be! *** Luna de Miel begins with an eerie howl reminiscent of those annoying Halloween ghosts that erupt every time an individual within 20 feet utters a breath. If Mastretta did not already scare you by this point, the 42 minutes to follow will. You will be scared by the haunting beauty Mastretta carefully orchestrates onto 12 uniquely different cocktail lounge tracks that would shame Michelle Pfeiffer and the Fabulous Baker Boys. Think of Mastretta as a playwright. He creates the script, environment and mood while actors reconstruct his vision for public consumption. Mastretta employs female vocalists from at least seven different countries: Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Sudan, Italy, Argentina and Portugal. He eschews the traditional piano for clarinets, saxes, accordions, banjos and bongos. Although the instrumentation and passionate vocals are two completely different beasts, they share mutual respect. The two beasts graciously compliment each other like the set of a play compliments the characters. Luna De Miel translated into English means “Honeymoon” is not a collections of “ode’s,” but rather a tour de force that pays homage to the female voices by using unorthodox instrumentation to accentuate its breadth. [www.mastretta.com]