Margo Reymundo

On her warm and intimate, beautifully textured independent debut, multi-faceted vocalist and songwriter Margo Reymundo invites fans of pop, soul, jazz, Latin and Brazilian music to experience My Heart’s Desire. True to its title, the heart and soul-felt collection fulfills a lifetime of musical dreams via a hybrid vibe so unique that it requires a new word to describe it—“Organica,” which is also—in line with the ongoing branding of her trademark sound—the name of her own newly launched record label.

Drawing inspiration from her favorite legendary singer songwriters—and seamlessly blending seven sensuous originals with imaginative arrangements of classics by Sting, Carly Simon and Bill Withers—the Mexican American singer creates a vibey and expansive stylistic universe where ambience and femininity breathe as one, her production and groove oriented arrangements are lush and thoughtful, and where every instrument (including a voice that pushes the standard definition of “sultry”) is equally important. In line with the “organic” thread of her music, the environment friendly CD packaging was created from 100 percent recycled cardboard.

Margo’s entry into this creative place, where she’s free to explore her “organica” sensibilities and truly live My Heart’s Desire, comes after many years of success in a wide range of musical genres. When she was 11, the Acapulco born, Dallas raised singer set on a years-long course of classical voice, harmony study and ear training, and she later competed with classical pieces in college. While developing her passion for everything from traditional jazz to bossa nova, cha cha and 70s pop/rock, she became a popular Broadway and off-Broadway stage performer in NYC in shows like Saturday Night Fever, Selena Forever and Latin Heat.

Releasing her first Spanish language album independently in the late 90s, she scored three Top 5 hits and a #1 music video in the Latin music market. She signed for a time with Polygram, then moved to L.A. to work on her songwriting and develop her career further. While working these past years as a voiceover actress, Margo became a popular supper club singer, bringing her innate sensuality and magnificent voice to thousands of people at L.A. hotspots like the Edison and Nick’s Martini Lounge and Four Seasons hotels all over the country. She also cultivated a strong following overseas with her performances in Japan, Belgium, Spain, Italy and her homeland, Mexico. Before committing to her solo recording, she joined her friend, English drummer Red Broad, and recorded an electronica duo project called Evolve.

“I had only written one song on the Spanish album,” she says, “and being signed to a major label wasn’t the hopeful and fulfilling experience I hoped it might be. My focus when I came to L.A. was do music on my own terms, and it took two other disenchanting record deals before I really found the combination of my own unique voice as an artist and the courage to produce and arrange an album that was my vision from start to finish. The ironic part of the title track ‘My Heart’s Desire’ is that it’s happy, but when I wrote it I was unbelievably sad. But it turned out to be a wonderful love song and connected with the reality of what this project was—the culmination of everything I ever wanted to do since I began pursuing singing as my career.”

Margo’s keen instincts for great arrangements and incredible musicians made it much easier for her to embark on the 10 song, six interlude collection that plays like a story covering all the emotions and experiences of human existence—happiness, mystery, joy, romance, heartbreak, anger, fear, mistrust, bitterness and triumph. She worked with some of L.A.’s top session and touring musicians, all of whom had a vested interest in her “organica” concept: guitarist

Andrew Synowiec (Mark Anthony, Jordin Sparks, Bitter: Sweet), drummer and steel drummer Chris Wabich (Frank Zappa), percussionists Bryan Brock (Perla, Frankie Valli, Dr. Dre, Estrada Brothers) and Richie Gajate Garcia (Diana Krall, Diana Ross, Phil Collins), bassist Eric Sittner and keyboardist Fred Kron (who composes for TV and film, plays sometimes with Jimmy Kimmel’s band and has worked with Donna Summer).

Complementing her wondrous arrangements of “You Belong To Me,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Margo conveys the essence of her voice and style on several of My Heart’s Desire’s key originals: the hypnotic, bossa nova title track, which tries to convey to someone just how much you love them despite their disbelief because they’ve never been loved this way before; the emotional pop ballad “Between Us,” which addresses the insecurity that can creep up in any of our relationships, romantic or platonic; and the edgy power-pop tune “I Saw You,” which conveys the odd reality that sometimes the people we think we know best can turn out to be total strangers.

“To me, the biggest gift of My Heart’s Desire was just discovering my ability to produce and arrange an albumon my own terms, my own way,” Margo says. “I went in a little terrified, and now am so confident in my ability to make it happen. I am indebted to the encouragement of some good friends who said they knew I had it in me all along. I love being able to create this lush sensibility in the studio with just a handful of musicians and then recreate that feeling in a live setting where the audience can at last connect with what I am trying to express. It’s a wonderful thing to touch people’s lives like that.”