I must have been Latin in most of my previous lifes - I have always been addicted to Latin music and culture, to the point one must wonder why the hell I live In Iceland of all places! No matter, lets take a trip to Cuba, for my song of the day is an excellent track from the queen of salsa: Celia Cruz.
She started recording music in 1948 and continued to do so until her death in 2003, when she was 78 years old. She left a major mark on the latin music scene - and rightly so.
"I am the voice of Cuba, from this land, far away..."
A trailer for a recent documentary, now out on DVD:
So: enjoy the unique and wonderful voice of Cuba:
6 comments:
I'm with you all the way on the matter of Latin Music! Being from sunny - ha ha! - Wales doesn't actually lend itself to tropical samba notes, either, but inside we are Cuban...
Celia Cruz is indeed "The Queen" of Salsa. I have five of her albums, including her greatest hits with The Fania All-Stars and her remix album - I adore her! I was gutted that I didn't get to see her on her last ever appearance in London in 1999, but we will always have her music. Azucar!!! Jx
It would have been great to see her live. I am thinking about getting some live DVDs, this woman is simply one of a kind. I am also very intrested in the documentary that I posted the trailer for.
Could you perhaps recommend a few titles to gte on CD? I am looking for a greatest hits disc that gives a good overview of her career, as well as some of her best albums. Would be much appreciated, as I simply must have her most essential recordings but her discography is a bit hard to get into...
The one we listen to most is "Celia Cruz: Queen of Latin Rhythm", but even that doesn't have her classics "Quimbara" and "La Vida es un Carnival" on it, whereas the fabulously camp "Celia In The House" remix album does (but not in their original form of course). It is very difficult to get a truly comprehensive collection, as, after all, her career spanned six decades! Jx
Oh, and of course any collaboration between Celia and the legendary Tito Puente is well worth having too... Jx
She appears to have been a one of a kind, will be fun to check her out some more
Thanks a lot Jon - I will keep my eyes out for the ones you mentioned!
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