Omara Portuondo - Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo
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Free Music Notes for Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo
Free Music Review: Another great BVSC production
Hit: 4 Stars
If you liked the previous World Circuit/BVSC productions, you'll be glad to know Nick Gold and the BVSC artists have pulled off another winner with "BVSC Presents Omara Portuondo". Like the other BVSC albums, "Omara" is characterized by natural, spontaneous, relaxed, yet emotionally-intense performances with minimum post-production work. Also as with all the other BVSC productions, you feel Omara and the musicians are playing and singing for each other rather than for an external audience, and the result is a wonderfully intimate musical experience. Additionally, in "Omara" Portuondo is given a very spacious aural setting that showcases her voice without unnecessary layers of musical arrangements (something which marred Ibrahim Ferrer's album). My only tiff with the album is the unnecessary remake of "Veinte Anos". The version in the BVSC album is fine enough and we didn't need this somewhat overwrought version.
Free Music Review: How can you not love her?
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm a big fan of anyone who has anything to do with Buena Vista Social Club. Okay, maybe not Ry Cooder too much, but if it's in Spanish, I like it. Omara, then, is no exception. She works meticulously to correctly interpret these songs with her beautiful voice (one of the most, if not the most beautiful voice I've ever heard). Most of the songs are slower, but the gems of the album, in my opinion (primarily because I like the songs that make you wind your hips and shake your shoulders), and, are the more "danceable" songs "¿Dónde estabas tú?" and "No me llores más," a duet with another Cuban great (and Buena Vista amigo), Ibrahim Ferrer. But, of course, I can't forget that "La sitiera" and "Siempre en mi corazón" are wonderful songs as well. Omara puts complete corazón y alma (heart and soul)into each song to make a great album. Check it out..Free Music Review: worthwhile for the collector of Cuban music
Hit: 4 Stars
For those who are expecting dance music, this is definitely not your CD. The Billie Holiday comparision is apt in some ways: this is melancholy music, not your high charged son montuno or salsa. If you are looking for that type of music, go for some of the other BVSC discs. Some of these tracks are incredible -- and you don't have to listen to Ry Cooder's grating slide on every track. My personal favorite is "no me llores mas." This disc brougth back memories of one of my favorite singers of this type of mellow-er music: Esther Borja. Her CD's are out of print (many of them), but Portuondo sings many of the same songs that Borja sang, but with a much huskier voice. If you enjoy the more ballad-like side of Cuban music, you will not be able to get enough of this CD.Free Music Review: From the heart....
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm not deep into Cuban music, and haven't heard of Omara Portuondo before, but I find this a beautiful and treasurable CD. She sings from the heart of a love that hurts, and in a number of styles including a couple I'm not familiar with: guajiro, bolero, mambo, habanera, etc. I especially enjoyed "Veinte Anos" with the trombone and bass dialogue as introduction. And I certainly wasn't expecting her version of Gershwin's "El hombre que you ame". The familiar "Siempre en Mi Corazon" was another favorite. Yet, I enjoyed each and every one of the other numbers. She has a dramatically expressive voice and can carry one with her emotion. If, as one reviewer indicates, her voice isn't what it once was, it still is, to me, one of the great voices one can hear.Free Music Review: Cuban music need not always be loud and fast....
Hit: 4 Stars
..and Omara Portuondo, although not in the prime of her singing career, shows that just for the memories and the love of music many beautiful songs can again be made almost new. This is a CD recorded and produced with great care so as to highlight Omara's voice. The most significant detail is that nowhere is Ry Coooder's guitar to be heard, and this in itself is a big plus. Ibrahim Ferrer's CD was overproduced and if "real Cuban music" lovers were bothered to hear that hawaiian guitar where it did not belong, don't be afraid, it is not here. Omora Portuondo's CD brings a collection of songs which we get to like and love more and more with every listening.