Tonina Saputo (@iamtonina)'s Black Angel
Back in December, President Obama (who I miss dearly), released his annual lists of favorite books and music of the past year. On his list of his favorite songs of 2018 was a song by an artist about whom, I feel, more people should know. The song was called "Historia De Un Amor," and the artist was Saint Louis' own Tonina Saputo.
Before I go any further, here's a music video of Ms. Saputo performing that very song:
Obama's recognition was really the cherry atop the sundae that 2018 was for Tonina. This past year, she released her first full album, Black Angel (available on Amazon), the release of which brought her some considerable attention here in St. Louis, including a great interview on the one news source from the local Nation Public Radio. (You know you're good when NPR wants to talk to you).
There are a number of things that make Black Angel a wonderful album. Since I cannot speak for everyone who's listened to and enjoyed the album (I'm not a paid spokesperson), I can't say why other listeners love it. I can only speak for myself. So, here are just a few of my personal reasons why this album should be on you "To Be Listened To" list right now.
1. Bilingual Track List
Saputo performs her music in two languages--English and Spanish--and Black Angel illustrates this. It isn't an even split down the middle of this album. Of the 11 tracks, only four of them are in English, and you can tell by the titles. The remaining seven are Spanish language songs (the above sample track is just one of them). Some of the songs are slow, heartbreaking, and mournful, while others are up-tempo poppy, and elated.
Given that this is her first album, this is understandable. It's almost like an old fashioned "Letter of Introduction" to a potential wider audience. It shows off that, as a performer, Saputo can perform in multiple ways. She can make you cry; she can make you stand up and want to dance. There is something for almost anyone on this album.
2. Killer Bass Lines
Like two of my favorite musicians of all time--Charles Mingus and Paul McCarthy--Tonina Saputo's main instrument, besides her voice, is actually the bass. She plays both the Upright Bass (my old friend) and the electric bass.
The bass, acoustic or electric, is like the heartbeat of almost any piece of music. For me, if a bass-line is weak and unimportant, I don't respond to it much. But, given Saputo's training, in many of her tracks on this albums, particularly the livelier songs like "Calypso Blues," or "Arbol De La Vida," the bassline is the first thing you hear. I guarantee, even if you're someone who moves like one of those Car Lot Tube Men when you dance, you'll feel this overwhelming urge to sway to the music.
3. Great Vocals
When trying to compare Saputo's voice to anyone, I was coming up short for a long time. Her voice isn't like anyone else's in music history. Few American singers performed in two languages, in a genre of music that fuses Latin, Jazz, and Folk Music.
Then I listened to some Nina Simone, and I found someone to compare her to. Saputo and Simone both share a characteristic in their vocals that I love hearing in singers: their voices mirror the mood of the song every time.
When listening to a song recorded by Nina Simone, like say "Mississippi Goddamn," you can hear the fervent anger that Nina Simone wants her listener to hear when she sings that song. You can hear it with her other songs like "Backlash Blues," or even "Ain't Got No, I Got Life". The shame in the former and the elation of the latter pours through.
Saputo's vocals are exactly the same. The emotion she wishes to communicate through the song, its melody, and its lyrics come through. It's a quality that brings an emotional depth both to each individual track, but to the album as a whole, making it infinitely re-listenable to.
4. Deep Content
Like almost all artists, Saputo is aware of the conversations of the world. As an African American woman in the world, she's acutely aware of those conversations with regard to race. Thus, it's understandable why, on her debut album, she included a song like "Black Angel," and when so far as to make it the eponymous song.
"Black Angel," is almost a dramatic monologue set between the singer (Saputo) and an unnamed artist, one who isn't fully representing the diversity of humanity in their work. The angels this artist paints are only white, and yet, if angels are supposed to be reflective of all the humans in heaven, shouldn't there be some angels of color too? Why aren't there?
In a way that is concurrently subdued and overt, Saputo is commenting in this song about the lack of diversity in art. The common term for it is "White-Washing," where art--particularly movies and television--presents a world where there are no people of color. It's an untruth that Saputo calls out in her music by asking the question:
If art is supposed to reflect human experience and reality, and there are a wide variety of ways people can look, speak, think, etc., then why doesn't our art reflect that?
It's a questions people are asking now, and it's a question that should be asked by everyone.
Of course, these are just the reasons I love this album, and this artist. As many people have said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." The best way to see if you'd like the album is, literally, to go and listen to it. As a way of making that a little more easy for you, here's another sampling of the music on this album, with Tonina singing one of my personal favorite tracks "Arbol De La Vida":
If you enjoyed even just these two songs, plus my little remarks, I urge you, go listen (and maybe even buy), Black Angel, and fall in love with Tonina Saputo's music.
Before I go any further, here's a music video of Ms. Saputo performing that very song:
Obama's recognition was really the cherry atop the sundae that 2018 was for Tonina. This past year, she released her first full album, Black Angel (available on Amazon), the release of which brought her some considerable attention here in St. Louis, including a great interview on the one news source from the local Nation Public Radio. (You know you're good when NPR wants to talk to you).
There are a number of things that make Black Angel a wonderful album. Since I cannot speak for everyone who's listened to and enjoyed the album (I'm not a paid spokesperson), I can't say why other listeners love it. I can only speak for myself. So, here are just a few of my personal reasons why this album should be on you "To Be Listened To" list right now.1. Bilingual Track List
Saputo performs her music in two languages--English and Spanish--and Black Angel illustrates this. It isn't an even split down the middle of this album. Of the 11 tracks, only four of them are in English, and you can tell by the titles. The remaining seven are Spanish language songs (the above sample track is just one of them). Some of the songs are slow, heartbreaking, and mournful, while others are up-tempo poppy, and elated.
Given that this is her first album, this is understandable. It's almost like an old fashioned "Letter of Introduction" to a potential wider audience. It shows off that, as a performer, Saputo can perform in multiple ways. She can make you cry; she can make you stand up and want to dance. There is something for almost anyone on this album.
2. Killer Bass Lines
Like two of my favorite musicians of all time--Charles Mingus and Paul McCarthy--Tonina Saputo's main instrument, besides her voice, is actually the bass. She plays both the Upright Bass (my old friend) and the electric bass.
The bass, acoustic or electric, is like the heartbeat of almost any piece of music. For me, if a bass-line is weak and unimportant, I don't respond to it much. But, given Saputo's training, in many of her tracks on this albums, particularly the livelier songs like "Calypso Blues," or "Arbol De La Vida," the bassline is the first thing you hear. I guarantee, even if you're someone who moves like one of those Car Lot Tube Men when you dance, you'll feel this overwhelming urge to sway to the music.
3. Great Vocals
When trying to compare Saputo's voice to anyone, I was coming up short for a long time. Her voice isn't like anyone else's in music history. Few American singers performed in two languages, in a genre of music that fuses Latin, Jazz, and Folk Music.
Then I listened to some Nina Simone, and I found someone to compare her to. Saputo and Simone both share a characteristic in their vocals that I love hearing in singers: their voices mirror the mood of the song every time.
When listening to a song recorded by Nina Simone, like say "Mississippi Goddamn," you can hear the fervent anger that Nina Simone wants her listener to hear when she sings that song. You can hear it with her other songs like "Backlash Blues," or even "Ain't Got No, I Got Life". The shame in the former and the elation of the latter pours through.
Saputo's vocals are exactly the same. The emotion she wishes to communicate through the song, its melody, and its lyrics come through. It's a quality that brings an emotional depth both to each individual track, but to the album as a whole, making it infinitely re-listenable to.
4. Deep Content
Like almost all artists, Saputo is aware of the conversations of the world. As an African American woman in the world, she's acutely aware of those conversations with regard to race. Thus, it's understandable why, on her debut album, she included a song like "Black Angel," and when so far as to make it the eponymous song.
"Black Angel," is almost a dramatic monologue set between the singer (Saputo) and an unnamed artist, one who isn't fully representing the diversity of humanity in their work. The angels this artist paints are only white, and yet, if angels are supposed to be reflective of all the humans in heaven, shouldn't there be some angels of color too? Why aren't there?
In a way that is concurrently subdued and overt, Saputo is commenting in this song about the lack of diversity in art. The common term for it is "White-Washing," where art--particularly movies and television--presents a world where there are no people of color. It's an untruth that Saputo calls out in her music by asking the question:
If art is supposed to reflect human experience and reality, and there are a wide variety of ways people can look, speak, think, etc., then why doesn't our art reflect that?
It's a questions people are asking now, and it's a question that should be asked by everyone.
Of course, these are just the reasons I love this album, and this artist. As many people have said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." The best way to see if you'd like the album is, literally, to go and listen to it. As a way of making that a little more easy for you, here's another sampling of the music on this album, with Tonina singing one of my personal favorite tracks "Arbol De La Vida":
If you enjoyed even just these two songs, plus my little remarks, I urge you, go listen (and maybe even buy), Black Angel, and fall in love with Tonina Saputo's music.
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