Amaury Gutierrez

Sometimes life´s trials and tribulations help musicians produce their best work. The source of Cuban troubadour Amaury Gutierrez´s pain is unknown, but its fruits are draped all over his new album, Pedazos de Mi. Although the album´s theme is of a man still in love and carrying a broken heart therefore, not too uplifting Gutierrez´s lyrical delivery and tender voice is poignant from start to finish. It is convincing to the point that it invites us to share in his pain. The tune ¨Dime Cualquier Cosa¨ (¨Tell Me Anything¨) is a grand example, as the now-Miami-based Gutierrez comes through with conviction over an element of soft percussion, bass, and drums. He offers more of the same in the title track as he calls out for a woman who has left him in despair: ¨Tú no me llamas y no esperas por mi/No salen canciones, ya no puedo escribir¨ (¨You don´t call me and don´t wait for me/The songs don´t come out of me, I can´t write anymore.¨) ¨Esa Miradita¨ (¨That Little Glance¨), on which he´s accompanied by Mexican singer Reyli, is an interesting mixture of flamenco and cumbia in which rhythmic riffs and the blaring trumpet solos of Ernesto Barreda add a fitting touch. Gutierrez´s voice displays more range than in the past. But for all the romantic emotion Gutierrez exudes in the album, none of it comes close to the gripping and genuine ¨Cercania,¨ on which he longs for Cuba and makes listeners feel as if we´re walking the streets of Havana with him. Gutierrez clearly reached places he had never gone before in putting Pedazos de Mi together, and his role as a singer/songwriter has never been more poignant.