Omara Portuondo "The Best of Omara Portuondo" (2008)

The Best of Omara Portuondo (compilation)
release date: Jun. 23, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: various
label: Union Square Music - nationality: Cuba

Best of compilation album by Omara Portuondo in the series 'The Cuban Heroes Collection'.

Omara Portuondo "Flor de amor" (2004)

Flor de amor
release date: Jul. 13, 2004
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Jerry Boys, Nick Gold, Demetrio Muniz, Ale Siqueira
label: World Circuit Records - nationality: Cuba

Studio album by Omara Portuondo. Another splendid release by this great singer.

Omara Portuondo "Buena Vista Social Club Presents: Omara Portuondo" (2000)

Buena Vista Social Club Presents: Omara Portuondo
release date: May 9, 2000
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Jerry Boys, Nick Gold
label: World Circuit Records - nationality: Cuba

Track highlights: 1. "La sitiera" - 2. "He perdido contigo" - 3. "¿Dónde estabas tú?" - 4. "Mariposita de primavera" - 5. "Canta lo sentimental" - 8. "No me llores más"

Studio album release by Omara Portuondo that followed the famous Buena Vista Social Club album (1997), on which Omara performs with Ibrahim Ferrer. The music is cuban jazz, latin jazz, vocal jazz, or son cubano, a style that blends vocal jazz with afro-cuban rhythms and Spanish Portuguese folk-oriented music like fado, sometimes bolero. The music is wonderfully sentimental, and it's really wondrous how closely related the music is with that of the coladeira or morna as heard by Cesária Évora of Cape Verde in Africa, the 'musica peruana by Susana Baca of Peru, and fado by Cristina Branco of Portugal. All four of them are sublime vocalists and performers of music that combines latin jazz with African jazz and in that make strong use of traditional elements of (Spanish) Portuguese folk traditions.

BEST OF 1997:Buena Vista Social Club "Buena Vista Social Club" (1997)

Buena Vista Social Club [debut]
release date: Sep. 16, 1997
format: cd
[album rate: 5 / 5]
producer: Ry Cooder
label: World Circuit Records - nationality: Cuba

*Track highlights: 1. "Chan chan" - 7. "Veinte años" - 9. "Candela" - 10. "Amor de loca juventud"
*should be the entire album.

How I wish the world would have much more of this kind. This is a studio debut album in the sense that it's the first of its kind. The album features various traditional Cuban artists who were brought together by the Cuban musician, Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist, Ry Cooder. Cooder's love and interest for world music was the starting point of the project, which was an idea of releasing music with famous national Cuban artists who were literally unknown - internationally speaking. Luckily, Cooder realised the project of his dreams, which is so unique. Most of the performers were at the heights of their career in the 1940s and 1950s, and it's a mere wonder that they were still able to record this fabulous music for everyone to experience.
The album won international fame, topped the album charts world-wide, and it was nominated and won many prizes in the aftermath of its release. It's quite naturally enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and several of the featuring artists on the album launched a late solo career, e.g. Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa, Rubén González, and Omara Portuondo.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5 stars ]

1997 Favourite releases: 1. Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club - 2. The Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole - 3. The Divine Comedy A Short Album About Love