Rosario - Parte de mí (2008)

Firmly established as a national icon in Spain, due to her singing talent and recording career as well as her famed bloodline, Rosario took the time with her seventh album, Parte de Mí, to pay tribute to some of her greatest musical influences. Collaborating once again with producer Fernando Illán, a fruitful working relationship that goes all the way back to her debut album, De Ley (1992), Rosario handpicked 11 of her all-time favorite songs for Parte de Mí, an understated album on which contemporary pop flourishes are thankfully left alone. Indeed, there's no need for glitz and flash on an album such as this, where the songs are classics that have passed the test of time and where Rosario is clearly impassioned, putting her heart and soul into these performances. The material she performs spans the latter half of the 20th century, from Joan Manuel Serrat's "Palabras de Amor" (1968) and Nino Bravo's "Te Quiero, Te Quiero" (1970) to Juan Luis Guerra's "Ojalá Que Llueva Café" and Antonio Vega's "El Sitio de Mi Recreo" (1992), though the bulk of it dates back to Rosario's coming of age in the 1970s. Moreover, most of the songs are of Spanish origin; the few exceptions are Juan Luis Guerra (of the Dominican Republic), Chico Novarro (Argentina), and Roberto Carlos (Brazil). Two of the album highlights are especially close to Rosario's heart: the festive album closer, "Como Me las Maravillaría Yo" (originally performed by her mother, Lola Flores, in 1973), and "No Dudaría" (written and originally performed by her brother, Antonio Flores, in 1980). A couple other highlights get the album off to a great start: "Por Tu Ausencia" (originally performed by Manzanita in 1981) and "Algo Contigo" (originally performed by Chico Novarro in 1976). Coming to a close after a brisk 40 minutes, Parte de Mí is the rare contemporary pop album that feels too short. When the material is this uniformly strong, the performances this graceful, and the sense of history this palpable, it's all too easy to revel in the music and hope it doesn't end. Following a series of tasteful yet thoroughly contemporary and occasionally overwrought pop albums -- Muchas Flores (2001), De Mil Colores (2004), and Contigo Me Voy (2006), all of them commercial blockbusters and Latin Grammy nominees -- it's nice to see Rosario take the time to craft a different type of album, a more understated effort that speaks to the past and her coming of age amid an artistic family rather than the present and its fleeting fashions.