palabras BIANCA I LAUREANO

Some call her the female Carols Santana and the feminista in me cringes. Eljuri has her own identity and gives us songs some of the best male performers can only hope to share (without having their images challenged). I get the comparison; she’s fierce (and so is her hair). If I were to play along with the Santana comparison, I’d contextualize Eljuri’s sound to what he’s produced in the last 10 years: his compilations with other artists.

Eljuri has a range of genres on her latest album “En Paz,” proving her multiplicity as a musician and her ability to connect her Ecuadorian and NYC background. This album doesn’t just focus on her and her guitar, she can sing! It’s clear she wants a comprehensive sound with her inclusion of violins, drums, and brass; you can tell this is a complete work.

She begins by introduces us to her interpretation of dub and reggae in “El Aire” and satisfies our “Latin alternative” needs with “Sombra Negra.” She rocks out with “I Told You Before,” her only all-English track. She doesn’t stop there, her mastery of strings is demonstrated with ballads such as the title track “En Paz,” and she exposes us to her roots, literally and figuratively as her mom wrote the original lyrics of “Como En Su Sueño;” and the bonus track is the original song. Eljuri won’t let you forget her music isn’t just for your entertainment, but for sharing the history of struggle and search for paz. She’s not singing about heartbreak, lovers’ quarrels, and other staple songs Latina musicians are often expected to include on their albums. Instead, she gives us a more poetic and wholesome transmission of culture, not a small feat.