Kevin Johansen presented a new version of “Last Night I Dreamed of You” with David Byrne

The production of the reversal of “Last night I was dreaming with you” was in charge of the multi-awarded Juan Campodónico (Bajofondo, Jorge Drexler, El Cuarteto de Nos) and the recording was made in the Zorzal (Montevideo) and Reservoire (New York) studios. On “Last Night I Was Dreaming with You,” Kevin and noted soloist David Byrne recorded vocals and Johansen sang, played guitar and whistled. They also collaborated on Campodónico on beats, keyboards and programming; Diego Mema on guitars; Pablo Bonilla in programming; and Luciano Supervielle on piano. According to Kevin, “David Byrne is the kind of artist I like to call ‘inescapable influence’, for his freshness, his anti-swing swing, his taste for choreography, the daily bike and surrealism. He is a ‘sentipensante’, as they would say in Colombia. A total original. I remember when at 19 or 20 a friend showed me the song ‘Heaven’ by the Talking Heads, produced with Brian Eno. I also remember repeatedly listening to the album ‘Little creatures’ with the coda of ‘Television man’ and his congas and the humming of the ‘nanana’. And of course the album ‘Rey Momo’ and all his work with the Luska Bop label, showing a tireless curiosity. That’s why my excitement to sing with him the version of ‘Last night I dreamed of you’, turned into a new song.” Byrne himself commented: “I’ve been a fan of Kevin for many years. I saw it live in a New York club some time ago and I think it was the first time we met. When he suggested that we do something together, I immediately said yes, not even knowing what it was. And when we talked about the song ‘Anoche soñé contigo’ I first tried to sing it in Spanish, but it didn’t sound natural, so we decided to make an English version. The translation was simple, as easy as his version of ‘Heaven’, and we realized we were doing something new. I recorded my part and a few days later we sang it together at the Mercury Lounge club in New York and it was spectacular. I thought the audience was happy because they knew the song, but they didn’t know the lyrics in English, so we sang the final chorus in Spanish and they all joined. It’s a beautiful song and it was an honor to be invited.” Producer Juan Campodónico anticipated some details of the work he is doing with Kevin Johansen: “We are preparing an album that covers and reverts his own songs and songs of others. Also exploring the invitation to musicians who dialogue aesthetically with their music, and one of them is David Byrne. When we asked him which song Kevin would like to sing, he sent us a list of twenty songs and we finally did ‘Last night I dreamed of you.’ Kevin is a bilingual artist raised in both Anglo and Latin cultures, and moves comfortably in both languages. It was an ideal occasion to transform a well-known song by Kevin and take it to English. David opens by singing with that special imprint that his voice has. What surprised us when we were recording was how well the two voices were going together, Kevin’s velvety-sounding baritone voice contrasting with Mr. Byrne’s nervous, sharper tone.” While he continues to work on his new album, Johansen will take some time to fulfill the rite of his classic New Year’s Eve show and in the end celebrate the 20 years of The Nada, the band that accompanies him since its inception, which has the legendary Zurdo Roizner on drums, about to turn 82. “It will be a very special End of Party,” says Kevin. The recital is this Sunday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hippodrome of Palermo. Tickets are available here.

Original source in Spanish