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Barbican announces Jorge Drexler for May 2023

Press shot of Jorge Drexler in a pinstripe suit jacket, burgundy shirt and black rimmed glasses, starring into the camera

The Barbican today announces Jorge Drexler, winner of seven Latin Grammys this year, for a performance in May 2023 as part of La Linea – The London Latin Music Festival. The Uruguayan singer songwriter will perform works from his latest album, Tinta y Tiempo (released on Sony this year), which received Latin Grammy accolades including ‘Song of the Year’, ‘Record of the Year’, and ‘Best Singer-Songwriter Album’, as well as material from across his career.

Tinta y Tiempo is Drexler’s 14th studio album - though very nearly wasn’t made due to the pandemic. After two years of perseverance the album emerged, taking inspiration from nature’s invention of love as a survival mechanism. Exploring themes borne from a time of quarantine - from love, to how we respond to fear, to the primordial importance of touch - Tinta y Tiempo is a conceptual song-cycle displaying Drexler’s lush take on popular song and its power to uplift and enlighten. Recorded with special guest artists Ruben Blades, C. Tangana, Noga Erez and Martín Buscaglia, the album amplifies Drexler’s voice with exquisite orchestral arrangements, creating a songbook evoking vulnerability, hope and wistfulness.

Based in Madrid, the Montevideo-born Drexler’s distinctive approach of a softness of voice twinned with charming melodies and lyrics of unusual depth gained him international recognition in 2005 on winning an Oscar for Al Otro Lado Del Río – a song written for the film The Motorcycle Diaries. Drexler now brings his poetic voice back to the Barbican’s stage and music programme for 2023.

Produced by the Barbican in association with La Linea - The London Latin Music Festival.

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