Los Curanderos Y Mary Welch
Curame (Gulf) Danceable, Latin-flavored tunes dominate Curame, Mary Welch’s debut with her band Los Curanderos, and a better backup band a singer couldn’t ask for. Playing with blazing energy, Los Curanderos include Mat Temple, Roberto Godinez, Jay Bolsega, Ernie Durawa, and Jeff Huckabee. Unfortunately, Welch’s petal-light voice often struggles to keep pace with the percolating musicians. She hits all the notes, and her voice is undeniably pretty, but in a contest between Welch’s lead vocals and Los Curanderos’ musical muscle, it’s nearly a smackdown. It’s a different story on the handful of slow-tempo tunes. Welch’s voice billows on “No Me Vallas a Enganar”; the country ballad “Crazy,” sung in Spanish with a Latin percussive overlay; and especially on the achy-breaky, “No Te Vallas.” While the latter is a fine showcase of Welch’s singing and songwriting talent, the tune ends in a disarming whimper. It’s an unsatisfying finish to an otherwise remarkable song, and as the last cut on Curame, an even stranger way to end an album.
This article appears in July 18 • 2003.