NEW YORK TIMES feature!
A Master of Crossover Relives ’70s Ballads
By LARRY ROHTER
Published: June 18, 2010
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. — Growing up in the Washington housing project in East Harlem in the 1970s, the singer Marc Anthony came to realize early on that “every family’s identity was based on the music they were blaring out their windows” toward the courtyard below. As he moved about, he recalled this week, he would hear Marvin Gaye coming from one apartment, Ray Barretto from another, the Bee Gees from a third.
At the age of 41, with a dozen CDs to his name, Mr. Anthony remains a child of all those influences, refusing to limit himself to just one. He bounces between records in Spanish and English, and in concert hopscotches from salsa and freestyle hip-hop to mainstream pop and, in a benefit show Tuesday night, rock songs like the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” Now he’s complicated the mix even further with “Iconos,” a newly released album of Spanish-language romantic ballads popular when he was a boy.
“I’m not a salsa singer who wants to sing in English, and I’m not this American kid who wants to sing Spanish,” he said during an interview at the estate here on Long Island where he lives with his wife of six years, the actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, and their 2-year-old twins, Max and Emme. “My thing is music, period.”
The new record, a break from his crossover offerings, released in late May and already in its second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin music chart, is a logical choice. Mr. Anthony was born Marco Antonio Muñiz, which happens also to be the name of a popular Mexican singer who his Puerto Rico-born father, a musician and hospital worker, and mother admired along with other balladeers like Juan Gabriel, José José and Roberto Carlos, all of whom are represented on the record.
“These are the songs we all remember from our infancy onward because our parents listened to them constantly: passionate, emotional songs that we may not have fully understood back then,” said the producer, songwriter and arranger Julio Reyes, who worked on the record with Mr. Anthony. “The challenge is to pay these songs respectful homage while inviting a younger audience to get to know them and feel the same about them as we do.”
But cover albums (“Iconos” contains two new tracks that Mr. Anthony and Mr. Reyes helped write in a melodramatic style similar to the other songs) are often regarded as holding actions, and so it may be here. After a detour to play the title role in the movie “El Cantante,” a 2007 biopic about the life and death of the salsa singer Héctor Lavoe, and time to settle into his marriage with Ms. Lopez, his second and her third, Mr. Anthony seems to be at a crossroads.
“He can do whatever he wants — movies, records, live shows, television — because people like him, so he’s privileged in that sense,” said Leon Ichaso, the director of “El Cantante” and “Crossover Dreams.” “But audiences come and go sometimes, so he has to find his footing once again. It is always a risk to go this slow for somebody who is a live wire like Marc, and it seems like he has been marking time.”
“Iconos” is Mr. Anthony’s first album of newly recorded material, other than the “El Cantante” soundtrack, since 2004, an unusually long gap even for him. “On average I take about three or four years to do an album,” he said. In part that is because he is meticulous about choosing songs to record: for “Iconos” he started with about 600 candidates, which were winnowed to 45, of which 8 were eventually chosen.
“First you date the songs, and then you get engaged,” he explained. “And then you marry them. They have to stand the test of time, because they are going to be yours for the next 20, 30, 40 years. So you had better choose right.”
But “Iconos” appears to be only the start of a burst of activity meant to reassert Mr. Anthony’s versatility and catholic taste. He said he is far along on two other projects. One, in English with Clive Davis, who has overseen some of the biggest successes of artists from Whitney Houston to Carlos Santana and Barry Manilow, offers cover versions of pop hits, including a recently recorded duet with Mary J. Blige, aimed at his crossover audience; the other is a Spanish-language salsa CD.
Though “El Cantante” received largely negative reviews and did not fare well at the box office, Mr. Anthony’s performance of songs associated with Lavoe was widely praised. That increased the public pressure on him to return to the style that made his reputation: At his peak, Mr. Anthony was the first solo salsa performer to sell out Madison Square Garden.
“I had to do a salsa album,” he acknowledged. “That’s all I’ve heard. But the good news is that I need it just as much as they do,” He continued, “We are firing on all cylinders to get a salsa album done by the end of the summer,” when he is scheduled to begin a United States concert tour that includes a show at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 10.
In the meantime, Mr. Anthony also continues to develop the acting side of his career. He is to appear in two episodes of the coming second season of “HawthoRNe,” the TNT medical drama starring Jada Pinkett-Smith, as Nick Renata, a tough-as-nails former New York City police officer turned private detective.
Ms. Pinkett-Smith, who knows something about musicians becoming actors, and vice versa, both from her own experience and her marriage to Will Smith, hinted that Nick Renata could end up becoming a recurring character and her character’s love interest. She also praised Mr. Anthony for bringing to the shooting process the same sense of drama and ability to improvise that he exhibits on stage.
“When you listen to Marc’s music, he is tapped into a very emotional space, and it’s just about having the ability to translate that from one platform to another, which he does with ease,” Ms. Pinkett-Smith, who is also a producer of the program, said. “He’s very spontaneous, and it was refreshing for me to have him come on the set and remind me of how important it is to be fresh and open to things. It’s almost like being around a very elevated child.”
The co-producer of Mr. Anthony’s salsa records, Sergio George, grew up about the same time and in the same neighborhood as the singer and has learned to be patient with his friend’s tendency to jump around from one style and form of expression to another. To him, Mr. Anthony is “a Latin Frank Sinatra” with “a big emotive voice,” who draws energy and inspiration from the impossible challenge of trying to be and do everything.
“I think if he sticks to one thing he’s doomed,” Mr. George said. “He’s not going to rest on his laurels. He needs to continue exploring, so I think he’s going to keep on doing both things or even add a third. He’s a magnetic performer in whatever he does, so if it doesn’t work as well, the public will forgive him.”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/arts/music/19anthony.html
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Comments for this News article
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
OMG! I love you Marc. You are the only musician that can touch my soul with your voice. It definitely isn't just the music, it's the way you sing it. God bless you and your family. Can't wait to see and hear you again. I will be checking you out on Hawthorne. Mi querido Marc.
Love you evette39
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
Hey so he did Hotel Cal at that benefit gig? kewl....and "Mr. Anthony" sounds so...formal! "..Do and be everything."..dooo be doo be doooo...(Sinatra-style) ...and I like his analogy of "marrying" the songs. Nice article, all in all, in spite of the many uses of my least favorite word, "crossover.."
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
WoW!!! This man is my idol for many years! I can't wait to hear some of his new salsa too. When I hear his music..it takes me into a different world like no one else has! I tried to win tickets, but I can't seem to get past the password stuff.
I love you Marc,
Angie
Tampa, FL
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
That's what I'm talking about! You go Marc! Check out baby! I hope you come close to Baltimore when you tour and do another HBO special. Thanks for this site. Sometimes I can not find out anything about what you are doing. Keep up the good work and never change. i wish you much success in your acting. I would like to see more of you. But stay humble!
mucho amor,
one of your biggest fans
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
First, let me congratulate the website's administrators for being timely with Mi Querido news...when I read the article this past weekend, all I thought was, WOW all the fans have to read this, and it's such a joy to see that the article has been posted. Gracias, Muchas Gracias.
"Mr. Anthony", love how they called him "Mr. Anthony"
....it's just such a pleasure to read how intense and passionate Mi Querido Marc is about the music that he "gives" to us, it's like treasures of love and respect, I can't say enough about how blessed we are to have him....
IT'S NOT ABOUT HEARING HIM SING, IT'S ABOUT HOW HE MAKES YOU FEEL WHEN HE SINGS....I LOVE HIM!....MI QUERIDO TE AMO!!
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
I cant wait for the new salsa cd. OMG i hope he come to AC again!!!!
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
Awesome article! Can't wait for the English and salsa albums. I'm glad that Marc is doing tv shows. I always wanted Marc to do tv roles and finally he is. So exciting.
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
Well, happy to hear that a salsa CD is on the way, but then we've heard that before. Also glad to hear we're having a full-fledged tour, and that MSG is not a one-off. Wish we had the tour schedule so I'd know how many limbs I need to sell to afford all the shows!
Like the Sinatra comparison.
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
Fantastic article...Thank you for posting! I could not agree more with what Mr. Leon Ichaso..
“He can do whatever he wants — movies, records, live shows, television — because people like him, so he’s privileged in that sense,” Let me add that Anything Marc does is Magic!!
I am very excited about Marc working with Mr. Clive Davis ( Wishing the cd would include the songs "I want to know what love is" and "Sugar Pie honey Bunch" or " Waiting for a girl like you") I can so see Marc singing these songs.. ...I can dream. = ) I cannot wait for the release of his new english and salsa cd's! Love you Marc!! Many continued Blessings!!
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
IMPRESIONANTE!! MARC ES UN ARTISTA COMPLETO MULTIFACETICO Y MUY ESTUDIOSO EN LO QUE HACE. POR ESO QUE TODO LO QUE REALIZA LO HACE BIEN Y TIENE EXITO, ES UN PROFESIONAL CIENTO POR CIENTO, Y TODA ESA ENERGIA CON LA QUE ÉL CUENTA MAS LA ENTREGA TOTAL A SU PUBLICO Y SI A ESO LE AGREGAMOS LA BUSQUEDA INCANSABLE DE COSAS NUEVAS , TENEMOS AL ARTISTA PERFECTO Y COMPLETO QUE HACEN QUE EL PUBLICO LO ADORE INCONDICIONALMENTE.
Re: NEW YORK TIMES feature!
Para el papa mas bello y sexy de la farandula:, Marcespero que la pases super bien en este dia tan especial, junto a tu hermosa familia, sabes que soy tu fan #1 y te adoro, eres el mejor artista latino que existe,
te adora
tu fan #1
Kathia