El día que me quieras

To honor his upbringing, Efraín Solís selected songs by Carlos Gardel and María Grever for his Atrium Sessions. “I grew up listening to my grandmother sing while she cooked in the kitchen,” reminisces the baritone, whose family is from Mexico. “I would often watch black and white films like ‘El día que me quieras’ while staying with them during the summer.” (The tango, translated as “The day that you love me,” is one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and has been covered extensively since; the composer himself performed it in the 1935 film that still infuses Efraín’s memory.)

Music was all around him growing up. “My first memories of music are my father playing his guitar and singing in the church choir,” Efraín says. “One of my favorite things to do is imagine singing a song while he accompanies me on the guitar. Nothing flashy or showy; it’s making music because we love it. It was inevitable that I should end up a musician too.”

Lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera, used by permission of Universal Music Publishing Group.