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West Valley View, Concert Preview >>
SAVAE brings historic sound to W. Valley
by Kristen Smith
staff writer
Only one member of the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble actually speaks Spanish.
The rest, said Covita Moroney, the founder of the SAVAE, are a "Heinz 57" with a variety of backgrounds and cultural heritages.
And yet much of what the vocal group sings is in Span ish, the rest is a mix of indigenous languages of early Latin America.
The sound is a blend of Incan and Aztec sounds and themes mixed with the Latin American sounds that are still popular today. That mixture is what creates the group's unique sound, Moroney said.
"This is the first years of the infant stage of what has grown into today's Latin American or Hispanic culture," said Moroney, who noted the songs have African under tones, too. "What you get to hear is the very first experi mentation with Latino music basically."
The spoken language doesn't really matter, she said. Much of the music is written phonetically using pronun ciations of the time, which often don't exactly match the language of today.
The seven members of SAVAE will bring their unique sound to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church at 8 p.m. April 7. Tickets are $15.
The concert is part of the West Valley Arts Council's Cultura de los Artes series, which celebrates Latino heritage. It's the second of a three-part series. The next installment is a performance by the Ballet Folklorico Quetzalli de Veracruz at 8 p.m. May 6, at Agua Fria High School in Avondale.
"We wanted to bring something unique that tied into the history of Latin America," said Bemadette Mills, director of programs and education for the Arts Council. "It's an academic group. They really go to the roots of the music and the culture."
SAVAE not only sings and performs, but also takes care to explain the indiginous instruments used during the per formance. The meaning behind the songs also is included in the event program, Moroney said.
"Anyone can go see a mariachi group," Mills said. 'This is a little bit different."
SAVAE formed in 1989 and quickly decided to special ize in the music of colonial Latin America, specifically the earliest part of the period when "the indigenous and the European languages were mixed in a really interesting fusion," Moroney said.
It's the music that was created and played during the first 100 years after the Spanish arrived in the New World, she said.
"It was really an adventurous time in the music because there was a concerted effort by the musicians themselves to include the indigenous music," Moroney said. People are listening, too. SAVAE's CDs do well, selling 10,000 to 20,000 copies, not blockbusters in the main stream pop world, but hits in the Gospel genre, Moroney said.
"It's not like we're a household name but when people hear about it and are interested in Latin culture ." she said. "It doesn't sound like mariachi and it doesn't sound like Latin music. It has its own sound."
For more information on SAVAE, visit the Web site at www.savae.org.
For tickets, visit www.ticketweb.com or call the West Valley Arts Council at 623-935-6384.
Kristen Smith can be reached by e-mail at ksmith@westvalleyview.com. 03/28/06
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