In the mid 1990s, 13-year-old Gaby Moreno, her head full of show tunes and classic Disney songs, was visiting New York City for the first time. She was with her parents on a dream vacation from their home in Guatemala City to take in Broadway. Walking around Times Square, Gaby became transfixed by a street singer with a style she’s never heard, something more earthy and passionate than most songs of the musical theater.
“It just really captivated me, so much so that I stayed and watched her for like 20 minutes. And afterwards, I came up to her and I asked her, like, what is this music that you're singing? Does it have a name? And she's like, ‘Oh honey, it's the blues.”
This encounter, an unexpected musical epiphany, is lodged in Moreno’s brain almost 20 years later. Nobody who surveys her body of work today - nine albums and scores of collaborations - would categorize her a blues singer. But her eclectic, searching musicality and her international career with its Grammy Awards and acclaim was in some ways born that day.
“Immediately I asked my mom to take me to a record store,” Moreno says in Episode 300 of The String. “I went to the blues aisle and I bought a bunch of compilation CDs, right? And I brought them to Guatemala with me. And I remember the very first one that I played, and the very first song that I heard was Koko Taylor's “Wang Dang Doodle.” And I was like, Oh my God. Where have you been all my life?”
I asked myself the same question about Gaby Moreno as I listened through her catalog and her current album Dusk. She’d been announced as a showcasing artist at Americanafest, and I had that tingle of recognition that I knew her a little and ought to know more. First there’s that rare voice, honey-toned and passionate, balancing refinement and realism on a knife’s edge, pouring out emotion in both English and Spanish. She dazzles, whether backed by a spare guitar, a modern pop band, a rootsy rock ensemble, and orchestral arrangements conceived by the legendary Van Dyke Parks. She’s a singer’s singer with a wide open mind about style and genre. I ask her if she’s been advised to, you know, pick a lane.
“Oh yeah, from the very first album,” she says of the critics and record executives who seem intimidated in the face of such versatility. “I do remember thinking like, yeah, maybe I should hone it in. But then, you know, I also realized that a lot of people connected with all these different styles that I was bringing to the table, and I also realized the common denominator is always going to be my voice, no matter what. And look, doing something that's bluesy or jazzy or rock and roll like, for me, it's all in the same world, right?”
Some call that world Americana, and Gaby tells us she’s felt kinship to the format for many years, though for much of that time she wondered if the community had room for her and Latin American influence. Besides a few lifetime achievement awards, including Flaco Jiminez, Los Lobos, and the Mavericks - Latin voices and influences have been rather scarce in the officially sanctioned scene. That’s changing, as AMA did acknowledge Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15) at Americanafest with a City Winery performance event in conjunction with Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce and Telemundo.
Gaby Moreno tells us in the show about her musical origins, her encouraging parents, and the major label record deal that let her move to Los Angeles in the early 2000s. Her relationships with record companies have been a bit trying as with so many creatively minded artists, but she’s had plenty of success too. She made a very special album with arranger and songwriter Van Dyke Parks called Spangled! for Nonesuch, and her last two albums, including the Grammy-winning X Mí (Vol. 1) and her current Dusk, are out on Cosmica Artists, an indie management and recording company that has a thing for Latin American crossover projects.
Along the way, Moreno became part of the talent collective at the venue Largo in LA run by Sean and Sara Watkins - the Watkins Family Hour. They told their Nickel Creek bandmate Chris Thile about her, and she wound up as a regular on his late, great NPR show Live From Here. Moreno’s also collaborated with Calexico, the Latin fusion rock band out of Tucson, AZ, pianist/actor Hugh Laurie, and Norah Jones songwriter Jesse Harris.
The latest album Dusk is a diverse wonder, with moody modern pop settings, classic rock and roll, heart-stopping ballads, and a loose and very live interpretation of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” with Parks at the piano. It’s her first project with extensive Nashville ties. She sought out producer Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Rodney Crowell) and tracked in an LA studio, while Music City studio favorites like Jen Gunderman and Russ Pahl, added parts later. We can hope that between that good experience and a well-attended Americana showcase at the Row One Stage at Cannery Hall, she’ll put our fair city on her calendar more often.
Dusk has recently been reissued as a deluxe edition with seven additional tracks.
