La voz de la zafra

Mercedes Sosa, the woman from Tucumán who would become 'The Voice of Latin America', began her recording career with this debut album in 1959, at the age of 24. The title 'La voz de la zafra' referred to the sugar cane harvest in northern Argentina, a tribute to her roots and the rural workers who saw her grow up. Recorded at the RCA studios in Buenos Aires, the album shows a young Mercedes with a voice already powerful and an interpretation full of feeling, although still influenced by the traditional folk styles of the time. The production is simple, with guitar and bombo arrangements that accompany her voice in a sober and effective manner.

The repertoire includes zambas, chacareras, and tonadas from northwestern Argentina, many of them anonymous or collected by the great folklorists of the time. 'Zamba del regreso' and 'Canción del jangadero' were some of the songs that began to give her recognition in the folk music scene of Buenos Aires, where Mercedes had settled a few years earlier. Her style already stood out for the intensity of her interpretation, which earned her the nickname 'La Voz de la Zafra' from her earliest steps, although mass success was still to come.

The legacy of this first album is that of a promise fulfilled by one of the most important artists in Argentine music. Although the album did not have the mass dissemination of her later works, it marked the birth of a monumental career that would span six decades and turn her into a symbol of social struggle across the continent. 'La voz de la zafra' is the sonic document of the beginnings of a unique artist who, from the deep north, began to build her legend and plant the seed of what would become one of the most important legacies of 20th-century popular music.