| World Folk |
This is not a jazz album, nor does it attempt to be one. Instead, Raíces | Roots positions itself squarely within the long-established tradition of Latin popular music found across the Spanish-speaking world. What sets it apart from comparable releases, particularly those emerging from Argentina, is not a reinvention of the genre, but the musicians involved and the album’s notably refined recording quality. The production is polished yet restrained, resulting in a record that is consistently accessible and quietly immersive.
Designed primarily for live performance in intimate settings, the album clearly speaks to listeners fluent in Spanish, capable of engaging fully with the emotional nuance and narrative depth of its love songs. These compositions carry an unmistakable sense of drama, supported by music that balances nostalgia and poetry, an approach likely to resonate beyond its core audience. Valeria performs either solo or as part of the trio Crooked Sparrow. Her first EP, The Alchemist’s Journey, was released in 2020 under the duo name Luna. With Raíces | Roots, her first solo album, she turns deliberately toward her Latin heritage, collaborating with singer-songwriter and guitarist Kevin Dudley, who also produced the record.
“For me, singing in Spanish isn’t a stylistic choice, it’s an emotional one,” Valeria explains. “It’s the language where vulnerability feels natural, where the stories breathe on their own.” That sensibility permeates the album’s seven tracks. Her soft, warm voice, marked by the unmistakable cadence of Buenos Aires, anchors a collection sung entirely in Spanish. Raíces | Roots blends award-winning original compositions, recognized by the John Lennon Weekly Songwriting Contest, the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, and the International Songwriting Contest, with two thoughtfully chosen covers: one Cuban, one Argentine. Together, they form a coherent body of work that prioritizes atmosphere and lyrical clarity over stylistic experimentation.
Listeners should not expect innovation in the conventional sense. This is an album driven less by surprise than by conviction, by an artist deeply engaged with the emotional lineage of her influences. Echoes of Roberto Goyeneche and Chavela Vargas surface throughout, filtered through a more accessible and contemporary lens that places the text at the center of the experience. The emphasis is not on virtuosity, but on meaning.
For anyone who has spent time wandering the streets of Latin America or Southern Europe, this music may feel instantly familiar, the kind that drifts out of open windows, unannounced yet evocative. Raíces | Roots is not an album designed to please everyone. A certain openness to this cultural vocabulary is required to fully appreciate its quiet rewards. There is nothing pretentious here, only an artistic voice guided by passion, content to exist without justification.
In the end, Raíces | Roots works best as a companion rather than a statement: music for a warm evening, unhurried and unassuming, carried by little more than the movement of air and the presence of a voice.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, December 30th 2025
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Musicians:
Valeria Stewart, vocals
Kevin Duddley, acoustic guitar
Eugenio Ibarz, bass
Jason Walker, congas & bongos
Juan Megna, bombo leguro
Grey Jacks, harmony vocals
Track Listing :
El Día Más Oscuro
Ensueños
Ere S Mi Amor
Por Qué
No Eres Tú
No Eres Tú
Zamba De Usted