Ser

Ser is an album full of passion, nostalgia and elegance. The debut album of Isa Bornau is a production in Spanish which adapts eight French songs from the ’60s and ’70s. Songs such as ‘Ne me quitte pas‘ from Jacques Brel and ‘La Bohème‘ from Charles Aznavour. The arrangements of the album were done by Marc Bischoff, a German composer and pianist, known for his latin-jazz collaborations such as Rumbatá, Izaline Calister and Metropole Orkest. Isa Bornau recorded Ser in The Netherlands in the middle of 2014 together with a group of professional musicians coming from diverse countries like Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela and Spain. The songs were recorded with various instruments, among them the flute, violin, bandoneon and percussion. Melodies on Ser flow with grace between pop and latin-jazz. The versions interpreted by Isa Bornau on Ser are a tribute to the legacy of the great French songs and is a musical production which sounds fresh and contemporary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isa Bornau has been captivated with music since childhood. As a child influenced by her French mother she listened to songs of Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf. During high school, Isa took singing lessons and participated in music bands and theater. A journey through Chile in 2000 marked a changing point in her musical influences. Isa became passionate about the Spanish language and Latin American music. In 2011 she graduated from the Latin department of the Conservatory in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. During her studies Isa set up the foundation World Music Factory, where she conducts musical workshops for children introducing them to music from South America and Africa. Urgency In hindsight, the attraction for Latin American culture is logical: a part of Isa´s roots are in Spain, the land of her grandparents. Her journey through Chile felt natural to her. There she discovered the folklorist Violeta Parra and became fascinated by the soul in her music. Isa: “Violeta’s songs contain melancholy where you connect with the earth and emotion. You can hear her urgency to sing, just like Mercedes Sosa, Buika and Edith Piaf. I feel the same kind of urgency. In the same way, I surrender to the moment and connect to my own soul.” Rebirth On her album debut Ser, Isa combines her passion for Latin American music with her identity in a fascinating way. About her debut, Isa says: “When I started thinking about ‘Ser’, I remembered that Charles Aznavour sang some of his French songs in Spanish. In my mind I created a picture where I saw the connection between my mother and my grandparents. I wanted to return to my roots and embrace them. ‘Ser’ means ‘to be’ in Spanish. For me, ‘to be’ means to embrace all the parts of yourself; it’s like being reborn. ‘Ser, renacer en mi cuna‘, the first sentence of Aznavour’s song, literally means ‘to be reborn in my cradle.” Production To create Ser, Isa asked the help of pianist, composer and arranger Marc Bischoff, who worked together with artists like Izaline Calister. With his impressive latin-jazz background he created interesting arrangements of songs such as Pequeña Marie (Petite Marie), No me dejes no (Ne me quitte pas), and Mi Soledad (Ma solitude). Ser contains a lot of musicality and depth by using instruments such as the bandoneon, flute, violin and percussion with a certain touch of jazz. Love But the central point is Isa´s phenomenal voice. A voice drenched in passion, melancholy, and certain elegance. Isa´s singing, combined with Bischoff´s beautiful arrangements, offer an intense and magical listening experience. The songs sound reborn, fresh and contemporary. Isa: “In ‘Ser’ I share the deepest layers of my being. I tell the story of who I am. I hope to touch people with the interpretations of these songs. It’s my way of bringing a little more love in this world.”