Del Rancho para el Mundo Espinoza Paz

Album Review

Paz’s third effort is an ambitious success, and while the “From the Ranch to the World” attitude of its title is fitting, the world is coming to the ranch as well. Del Rancho Para El Mundo features genres rarely referenced by either banda or norteño including the classic jazz vocal influence found in the album’s key track, “Al Diablo Lo Nuestro.” The album is bold enough to put a surprise up front too as “Te Voy A Extrañar” features glockenspiel and a spoken word intro and even when the closing duet with David Bisbal is labeled “Banda Version,” there’s a clarinet melody that’s right in the spirit of Gershwin. All these slight touches are just that and the core of the album remains fan-pleasing, traditional Mexican regional music, all performed with the power and grace that has made the singer both a norteño heartthrob and the commonly accepted “songwriter of the people.”