In the spirit of today's Flamenco Nouveau, Spain's premier cantaor (flamenco singer), "Enrique Morente," delivers up a soulful, spirited and brilliant performance. This time, he focusses his considerable talents on the poetry of famed Latin poet and playwrite Federico Garcia Lorca. For the flamenco lover, "Lorca" is a total auditory experience. Combining the three traditional elements of el cante (the song), el baile (the dance) and el toque (the guitar), Morente takes a step beyond the traditional and delights us with his vocal virtuosity and innovation.

This CD is replete with all the emotional charge of the traditional flamenco which rose up out of Southern Spain's gitano community more than two hundred years ago. After hundreds of years, it evolved into a formalized art, expressing the inner pathos, poverty, and oppression of the Andalusian people. Since then, Flamenco Puro hasn't changed much in form over the last two hundred years. However, with the modern availability of sounds and technologies, Flamenco is once more taking on new innovations.

The leading Spanish cantaor in this movement of Fusion Flamenco is "Enrique Morente." His performances honor and cherish traditional forms, and at the same time gather in unique and exciting innovations from other cultures and experiences. The resulting efforts in this CD, "Lorca," is not a dilution of flamenco, but a rich and vibrant enhancement of it! This is a musical expression and tribute to Lorca's poetry, whether each song captures only a fragment of Lorca's work, or an entire poem.

Morente's vocal expression remains consistently powerful whether expressing anguish or outrage. Having been featured in Carlos Saura's documentary film "Flamenco," it is a small wonder that Morente, also known as "El granaino" (Granada man), is one of Spain's superstars.

The 14 tracks each hold to one of the four basic forms of flamenco, while exploring new frontiers. The first track, "Canciones De La Romeria," sets us off and running with the tangos as a much lighter, less rough cante. It's immediately followed up by "Fandangos" another light, almost dreamy, tangos or cantes festeros. Every track is sung by Morente with love and passion, whether it's bright and joyous, smooth and romantic, or soft and dreamy as in his "Cantar Del Alma." This cante has the surprising backing of The Bulgarian Voices, a slavic women's choir, which enhances Morente's performance to perfection.

If you enjoy passion, power, energy, soul and romance; if the rough hewn voice of the Andalusian cantaor transports you; if you want to hear a fresh approach to an almost timeless art; if you hold flamenco close to your heart; Morente's "Lorca" is what you seek.