‘Dream come true’
NM native Raul Midón grateful for success as world-renowned guitarist
Raul Midón enjoys his time at home when he gets it.
“I travel a lot, and being at home gives me some normalcy,” he says in a recent phone interview. “But my life on the road is amazing, because I get to perform.”
Midón was born in Embudo in 1966 and raised in Santa Fe.
He is known for his jazz-infused music and in 2017 was nominated for a Grammy Award for best vocal jazz album for his release “Bad Ass and Blind.”
His most recent album, “If You Really Want,” was released on Sept. 14.
The guitarist teamed up with Metropole Orkest, a Grammy Awardwinning Dutch ensemble.
“The new songs, I wrote with the orchestra in mind, and some of the more poetic songs really fit the orchestra,” he says. “I knew that I would have a lush ensemble, and that affected my writing. I was able to let go a little more when writing, because I could work with more. There weren’t as many constraints.”
Midón wrote the album’s title track years ago before moving to New York in pursuit of a career in music.
The lyrics channel this time of perseverance and persistence.
“I really had this song in my back pocket, and I’m glad I found the ideal place for it as the new album’s title track,” he says. “It’s about the power of positive thinking to fulfill your dreams, as I was able to do by becoming a professional musician, making records and touring the world. Here I am, recording with a great European orchestra. This, like so many things in my career, has been a dream come true.”
Midón says many of the songs on the new album go to places that he had never imagined before.
He had recorded the song “Sunshine (I Can Fly)” on studio and live albums before.
“But the new arrangement feels so different, so exciting, so epic — the ultimate version of the song, I think,” he says. “I also love the way the ballads came out, like with the new ‘Ocean Dreamer.’ That song’s lyrics are this sort of kaleidoscope of images. To me, it also feels like the best ballad singing I’ve done on record.”
The album was the product of “both an exciting live experience and a thoughtful, meticulous process,” Midón says. “The recording started with me singing guide vocals and playing guitar live with the Metropole ensemble in the studio in Holland — that gave the orchestra the real vibe of the songs. Then, once the ensemble parts were tracked, I took the recordings home, taking my time to re-cut the vocals and guitar so that they were as nuanced as possible.”