One afternoon in 1992, Arthur Hanlon He played Chopin like crazy in his piano teacher’s studio. After almost three hours of review he left exhausted, and when he was in his car, at a traffic light, he heard a song in the next car that left him petrified.
“I said, ‘What is that? What glorious music,’” the musician recalled in a recent interview. “It was a song by Juan Luis Guerra; “So I started playing on my piano, experimenting, and I thought that at some point in my career I could pay tribute to bachata music.”
But before he could execute any plan, Arthur was not spared a good scolding from his piano teacher, who, when he heard him playing pop music, told him, “Arthur, don’t mix your drinks.”
However, alcohol had nothing to do with it. Arthur was moved by other things when he decided that at some point in his career he would record an album in tribute to the popular Dominican rhythm.
That date arrived a few days ago, when the artist released “Legados: Bachata”, an EP with six of the most popular bachata songs in contemporary history.
“I was attracted to the rhythm and romanticism, and also the nostalgia of when I was in New York [donde ocurrio la anecdota del maestro de piano]”said the composer, who this month will be on tour in several South American countries, including Chile and Argentina.
The album includes covers of songs by Romeo Santos (“Propuesta indecente”) Juan Luis Guerra (“Bachata rosa”), Prince Royce (“Darte un kiss”) and others. It is the first in a series of concept albums, each intended to celebrate the successes of each Latin genre.
Only one of these songs, “Give you a kiss,” has a voice. He is played by Peter Nieto, a young Cuban-American who is beginning his career as a singer.
“I’m always looking for fresh projects that people don’t expect,” said Arthur, who was born in Detroit and is of Irish descent.
The challenge in this album, which continues after “Piano y Mujer II” —where Arthur shares with singers like Ivy Queen, Lupita Infante and Debi Nova— was where to include the piano notes, “because we wanted to leave the essence, soul and spirit of bachata.”
This balance was achieved thanks to the fact that the rest of the musicians who collaborated on the EP are 100% bachateros, while the co-producer is Dominican.
“What can be more romantic than piano and bachata together,” said the artist. “This balance was achieved when I played with the rhythm and melody of my piano.”
Source: La Opinion
