All the world's Topferova's songbook
originally appearing in The Boston Hearld (April 1, 2005)
By Bob Young
Marta Topferova knows in her soul that Latin culture is becoming a more and more integral part of life in the United States with each passing day.
How does someone born and raised in the Czech Republic come to this conclusion? She's living the reality, literally and figuratively.
``I feel very, very close to the poetry of the culture,'' said the young singer from Prague, who now lives in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood in Manhattan. ``And Spanish is a very natural, organic condition for
me.''
Topferova, who makes her Scullers debut on Tuesday, knows all about the demographic projections. Within five years, the U.S. Latino population is estimated to top 40 million, and by 2040 it could be a quarter of the total population.
But Topferova cares far less about Census Bureau number-crunching than she does about the music of Latin America, South America and the Caribbean.
That's because she has immersed herself in Latin music ever since friends of her parents
brought recordings of the Chilean group Inti-Illimani to their Prague home when she was 6.
``It wasn't like growing up in the States, where you had access to so much variety, especially during the Communist era,'' she said. ``But that was the music that really pulled me in early on.''
It wasn't long before Topferova was visiting the local library and taking out flamenco and South American records, listening intently to the likes of Mercedes Sosa, Simon Diaz, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Benny More.
Those influences come through on her own recordings, including the just released ``La Marea'' (World Village), with lyrics entirely in Spanish and rhythms that include merengue, Cuban son and gaita.
Her music has also been winning her fans around the world as well as in such U.S. settings as the United Nations, the World Music Festival in Chicago and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival.
After moving from the Czech Republic to Seattle with her mother and sister when she was 11, Topferova was able to quench more of her thirst for Latin music both live and on
recordings. She was soon studying Spanish and even moved to Spain for a stretch to learn guitar, cuatro and hand percussion.
In performance, she wraps her dark, smoky voice in a delicate web of rhythms brought to life by Colombian harp, French horn, flute and other instruments.
``When I write my lyrics,'' she said, ``I don't feel like I'm thinking in English or Czech and translate them into Spanish. It just flows out of me because I've been devoted to this music for so long, starting as an adolescent.''
Topferova does occasionally sing in Czech and recorded a CD of Czech folk songs several years ago. Still, it's Latin music that moves her most.
``(Czech folk music) doesn't pull me completely in because it lacks the African element in the rhythms,'' she said. ``The Latin genre has these beautiful melodies and a lot of them are similar to European songs from different areas of Europe. But it also has that African element and that danceable feel.''
For Topferova, America is where she's able to stay most inspired by the sounds she loves.
``People who haven't spent a lot of time in the United States don't understand what a huge influence Latin America has become here,'' she said. ``To me, it's not a subculture. Spanish may not be my native language, but it feels like my second home.''
