Raul Midon - Synthesis - International Music Network

JAZZ SOUL GETS SLAP HAPPY:Raul Midon's attention-grabbing style trumpetsthe arrival of a major new talentBY JIM FARBERMay 29, 2005You can't blame Raul Midón for feeling he's been chosen.When a recent press showcase of his music was held, it wasn't shunted off to the usual dark clubor dank rehearsal studio. It was presented in the well-appointed Central Park West apartment ofArif Mardin, one of pop's most storied producers.Mardin helped shape the classic recordings of artists like Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfieldin the '60s, the Bee Gees in the '70s, and more recently Norah Jones. Mardin helped Midón getsigned by Manhattan Records and co-produced his first album.He was drawn to Midón's rare approach to singing and playing.As Midón stood in Mardin's home and hunkered over his guitar, he didn't so much play hisinstrument as slap it like it was a naughty child. First, he attacked its body with his flat hand,then he pulled briskly back on the strings, flicking them with a flourish.As Midón began to sing, he let the notes swirl feverishly around the melody, then pursed his lipsand imitated a trumpet in full solo swing.Midón says he developed his percussive approach to music out of desperation."I had to find a way to have a presence, to stand out," he explains. "When you're an artist with anacoustic guitar, opening for somebody else in a club, strumming quietly isn't going to cut it. Iwanted to project something rhythmic as well as lyrical."The effect pricked up his producer's ears the moment he heard it."As a jazz fan, I detected that freedom of expression in his playing," Mardin explains. "It waslike a little drummer was living in his guitar, like in flamenco music. And his vocal had thatsoulfulness."