Singer and multi-instrumentalist (though primarily a guitarist)
Rafael Manriquez
performs 25 songs from various strands of Chilean folk music on
Que Viva el Canto! Songs and Singers of Chile
. Though there are some traditional songs here, he emphasizes covers of contemporary folk compositions by Chilean writers and performers of the last half century (
Victor Jara
being the most internationally famous of these), as well as doing a few of his own. It's hard to assess the musical merit of
Manriquez
's interpretations without access to original or older versions, whether by the songwriters or other performers -- material with which relatively few listeners outside of Chile will be familiar. However,
does have a pleasant emotive delivery, and the arrangements, while on the plaintive side, are varied, as the singer's backed by a number of other musicians (occasionally sharing the vocals as well) on numerous instruments including flute, accordion, saxophone, and harp. The songs cover both explicitly political topics and more everyday and romantic concerns, so the record can be seen as an introductory survey of sorts of several areas of Chilean folksong. As is par for the course on
Smithsonian Folkways
CD, there's a sizable accompanying booklet (in English and Spanish) with an overview of the Chilean folk music profiled on the CD and a bio of
, along with comments about the sources and lyrics of each of the songs. ~ Richie Unterberger