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Hallelujah, Carlos Calvos
@ The Mint
One sign of a truly talented artist is his level of control. Control over his voice, his instrument, his lyrical arrangements, even the depth of his lyrical revelations. It doesn't mean said artist is always in control, but rather, that he is always the master of his musical realm. Singer/songwriters like Bono, Dave Mathews, and Van Morrison have those abilities to explode emotive passion, delicately carry the most subtle nuance of thought or melody, balance the far extremes and weave every lackluster moment in between into something magical.
Carlos Calvo has this inexplicable capacity. He played at the Mint a few nights ago to an initially sparse crowd that thickened quickly as he dominated the small space. With a throng of performers occupying every square foot of performance space in Los Angeles, it's easy to mesh them all together. It's true, they often all sound alike, and cancel each other out ultimately. Calvo proved moments into his first song "Try, Try, Try" that he's unlike most musical hopefuls with his gifted and extremely accomplished guitar playing skills (read: Carnagie Hall student). He played a refreshingly electric-acoustic guitar that gave a pronounced, full sound to his solo performance.
Calvo is decidedly centered around a polished guitar performance; the instrument plays lead often before or instead of any lyrical presence. He sings with vulnerability and a self-revealing context, about his own thoughts and relationships with others and life. He sings with emphasis and subtlety, strength and frailty - always deliberately and selectively restrained.
His style resembles David Gray's rough honesty, the tender vocals of lesser known Lowen & Navarro, and the latin flavor of Nil Lara. Like Matthews, Sting, and Peter Gabriel, he uses global Latin/Middle Eastern sounds to the folk mix that make the music not only more interesting, but far more unique than the usual folk standard.
"Joan of Arkansas" was among the best songs he presented and is likely to receive much praise. He sings of a love gone awry and the closure he's gained after the relationship's completion: "Hallelujah, Joan of Arkansas/so I glad I knew ya, for this I'm better than before/and though we're through, yeah, Joan of Arkansas/I can't believe we've come this far." The song sounds ironically celebratory and triumphant, very expressive and so infectious. The very delicate "Wrecking Ball" again seems to continue on the theme of embracing human weakness and life's feeble moments accompanied by a stunning, carefully poised melody.
After a full set and the watchful eye of the sound technician to wrap it up, he walked off the stage to a continuously rambunctious audience demanding more - unusual in small L.A. clubs with unsigned, unknown acts. Even more unusual: he was granted his well-deserved encore.
Quite honestly, the only thing better than Calvo on stage is his latest debut release, Past Present Future, which is heartfelt and deeply honest with a consistently guitar-based foundation. The various Latin and Middle Eastern styles are more prominent with the help of a full (and outstanding) band playing the supportive role.
Visit his site for show dates, song samples and the album: www.carloscalvo.com.
Article by: Carol Soudah
Submitted: Late June, 2002
Email: Carol@thelamusicscene.com
Photo's by: Submitted by writer
Artists website: http://www.carloscalvo.com
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