Reconocer is Peruvian singer/composer Pamela Rodríguez’ third album. It’s a set of 13 compositions embracing almost 45 minutes that represents a turning point in the musical career of the 2006 Latin Grammy nominee musician. The album also represents the result of a constant inner search that finds Pamela in a more natural musical environment while keeping her Peruvian identity but stepping into the realms of pop. A fact that she assumes with no regrets at all since it is an aspect that she’s carried on her whole life from the time she first stroke a key on the piano to these very days. The album distills her soul in the most peculiar style. As a result of her risks, Pamela’s style is very unique across the American continent. But do not be fooled! After all, she comes from the land of Chabuca Granda and Yma Sumac. So she is an heiress of two of the greatest Latin American singers that ever lived.

Wayne Shorter is a big name in jazz. Since he joined the famous Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the late 50s, and later became part of Miles Davis’s band, the saxophonist has been regarded as the greatest composer alive. Co-founder of the fusion pioneer outfit Weather Report, Shorter’s compositions have inspired thousands of instrumentalists around the world. Not merely sax players.

It really is great pleasure to find an artist as genuine as Pamela. In today’s world, it seems fame is of greater concern over a real craft. That is not Pamela's case. She starts this year with a great CD entitled Reconocer, a word that can be understood as admit or recognize in Spanish. The Latin Grammy nominated has always steered off the mainstream, but even by her own standards, the singer and composer has given a very interesting twist. It is that habitual need to express her inner world through her music, poetry and paintings. All of which bring us joy. It is that need that has taken her to share some thoughts with those who have followed her career.

Pamela isn’t a stranger to Venezuelan audiences. Caracas is one of four cities where she lives and has as operation base together with Lima, New York and Madrid. Her kindness and interest for various social issues are now a common subject found in her lyrics. She does it with the same beauty a weaver weaves in the loom. That is, each thread counts and each one leaves us with important thoughts and ideas about life. Now, it is her concern about the role of the Latin American woman and the world that fleshes out with subtlety.

She recently decided to share various ideas about her profession and a world in which many of us will find a common place where her music and her beautiful spirit evokes great women of the world like country fellows Chabuca Granda and Yma Sumac as well as Joni Mitchell and Rickie Lee Jones. She is doubtless another drop of water constantly bumping onto a wall, a verse found in the lyrics of Guillermo Carrasco and Pedro Castillo’s Verso Duro (Hard Verse), a song dedicated to Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez whose protest through the cyber space has brought worldwide attention.

Cartagena VI Festival Internacional de Música

The prestigious Venezuelan violinist was one of the main acts in this edition of the Festival. The Festival rendered a tribute to “The Sound of the Americas.”

Internationally acclaimed violinist Alexis Cárdenas was one of the main superstars in the 2012 edition of this Festival that started on January 6^th.

This outstanding violin player emerged from the classical music world but has gained great recognition in the contemporary, jazz and Latin music scene. He showcased these features in his master classes as part of the event. There, he was accompanied by his world-class quartet conformed by Elvis Martínez on bass, Jorge Glem on cuatro and Carlos “Nené” Quintero on percussion. They performed Fuga con Pajarillo by the great late Venezuelan composer Aldemaro Romero accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of Sao Paulo. On the 10^th, he took part at the Colombia & Venezuela Mágica event along the Oí trio that specializes on Colombian/Andean music.