The fist lady of Colombian music is back, this time not with a new recording but a rather special re-issue. A new take on her classic album La Candela Viva, the record label managed to digitalise the original tapes and then remix and remaster them. Producer John Hollis, who worked on many of the original recordings, searched out the master tapes, and discovered unreleased songs and different versions of many tracks, which have now been remixed with new backing choruses added by Totó’s granddaughters.
The result a total gem of an album, Colombian music doesn’t get better than this - a fresh, audacious set that provides a reminder of her powerful voice. For many dance songs she is accompanied merely by hand percussion and backing vocals, but then she adds in traditional flutes, or guitar for a lilting ballad. Famous tracks such as La Candela Viva and El Pescador have never sounded this good. A real effort from Real World Records, but it totally paid off, my favorite album of the whole of 2015.
