In the early 1950s, after taking some years off to raise her family, Mendoza returned to recording. This compilation has 26 songs that she recorded for the Ideal label between 1950 and 1964. In contrast to her sparse, guitar-accompanied sides from the 1930s, these have a fuller band sound, with... [+] Expand

In the early 1950s, after taking some years off to raise her family, Mendoza returned to recording. This compilation has 26 songs that she recorded for the Ideal label between 1950 and 1964. In contrast to her sparse, guitar-accompanied sides from the 1930s, these have a fuller band sound, with backup by several different orquestas. Although much of this is in the conjunto mainstream of jaunty, emotionally delivered tunes with guitar-accordion arrangements, there's some variety as well that finds her occasionally in more of a pop, jazz, or torch-song mold, along with some straight mariachi settings, boleros, and tangos. For my money, it still works best when the melodies are sad and the arrangements tend to the more simple, putting the focus firmly on Mendoza's assured vocals. It's still quality material, however, reflecting the increasing sophistication of conjunto music instrumentation as the century passed the halfway mark. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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