Yahritza y Su Esencia: three musicians, five songs, no distractions.
Their 2023 Tiny Desk puts the voice, 12 string guitar and bass up front.
Watch original NPR Music session ↗
Yahritza, Armando and Jairo Martínez, siblings from Washington’s Yakima Valley, reached the Tiny Desk in August 2023. In his NPR piece, Felix Contreras describes a small lineup: Yahritza on vocals and guitar, Armando on guitar and backing vocals, and Jairo on bass. The session feels intimate because each musician carries a clear part of every song.
They play “Soy El Único,” “Déjalo Ir,” “No Se Puede Decir Adiós,” “Inseparables” and “Frágil.” NPR notes that Yahritza wrote “Déjalo Ir” at age 13. The session shows how much emotion a voice, a strummed guitar and a few quiet moments can hold.
Our reading: this is also the geography of the genre. Contemporary Mexican music has taken shape on both sides of the border, and Yakima is part of that story. Watch the original NPR Music session and hear what changes when the bass enters after a vocal line. The performance and its credits belong to NPR Music.