Linda Agosto – Porque Me Amas/Because You Love Me

Linda Agosto

Porque Me Amas/Because You Love Me
NWJ Productions (2011)
http://www.lindaagostoonline.com/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

On Porque Me Amas/Because You Love Me, Linda Agosto pours a liberal helping of picante on her praise.

Agosto’s all-gospel salsa album finds the New York native singing to punctuating brass and rolling percussion. Even balladic selections such as “Thy Keeper” get a mildly caliente accompaniment.

It makes sense: salsa is a celebratory sound and the songs on the CD are celebratory, expressing praise for blessings received and a God who would deign to love little ol’ us. Agosto’s trademark style is also a tribute to her Puerto Rican roots and to the powerful influence of Latin music on her newly-adopted Florida home.

Throughout the album, Agosto sings with an insistent staccato delivery, using everything she has. A solid male group gives the selections added potency. And she sings in both English and Spanish; the title track and “In the Fire” (reviewed earlier on TBGB), for example, appear on the album in English and Spanish versions.

The performances have more passion and drama when Agosto sings in Spanish. This is most evident on the infectious “Por Un Granito de Mostaza” (“Like a Mustard Seed”) and “El Todo Poderoso” (“The Almighty”). I have experienced this once before: listening to the English and Spanish versions of the late Soraya’s En Esta Noche (Polydor), I preferred the Spanish.

The salsa gospel treatment works on all tracks except “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” where its traditionally serious reading trumps the joyous arrangement here.

If you are unafraid of moving in the spirit, you will not want to sit still during Porque Me Amas/Because You Love Me.

Three of Five Stars

Picks: “Por Un Granito de Mostaza,” “El Todo Poderoso.”