Julia Sanjurjo. Portrait. (ICM)

The first thing any restless listener appreciates on Julia Sanjurjo's recent album is originality. The eagerness to get out of that mold so often traveled, which repeats ad nauseam the American songbook immortalized by the great voices of Jazeera history. None of that is in Retrato.

Whoever approaches this first job of the singer from Mar del Plata as a leader will find another proposal. More original, more comprehensive and unique. Here Sanjurjo takes risks that are appreciated, by taking some poetry by Argentine writers, which he intervenes and sets music, giving a new look at a handful of endearing texts.

They parade over there  Tower by Arnaldo Calveyra, Marine man of the long-awaited Rodolfo Fogwill,  Noah by Aldo Oliva, Vespers by Roberto Juarroz and The cause of the hours by Guillermo Saavedra; all together with Sonora, the only text by Sanjurjo, which is not at all out of place in such creative company. In each one of them the singer displays a singular delivery, full of climates and nuances, that take her away from a certain comfortable security, to launch her fully into the conquest of new sound territories.

They accompany Sanjurjo in Retrato, Ernesto Jodos on piano and arrangements, Maxi Kirszner on double bass and Sergio Verdinelli on drums. Rodrigo Domínguez also made his contribution in saxophones, to round off a more than promising work.