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  Celia Cruz
The Rough Guide to Celia Cruz (World Music Network RGNET 1150 CD,
2005)
Sure, the late
Celia
Cruz Celia Cruz was the Queen of Salsa, but that title was too limited.
Taking into account all that salsa is rooted in, including deep Afro-Cuban
rhythms, core aesthetics that touch upon both the spiritual and the sensual and
song structures that stretched the bounds of older styles like guaracha, son and
guajira, Cruz seems more like the Queen of Latin Music, period.
Indeed, if you listen to how expertly Cruz sings a deeply traditional song
like this disc's "Elegua" - an ode to a Yoruba diety that's all percussion and
voice -and compare it to one of her more salsafied collaborations with Ray
Barretto or Johnny Pacheco, it's clear just how much range she had as a singer.
The deft cadences of her powerful contralto both accentuated and spurred along
the rhythms going on all around her and conveyed ample emotional range even in
what was sometimes perceived as mere party music. In short, the woman could
sing, a fact that neither her sometimes campy visual image nor calculated
commercialization by both Spanish and English-speaking entertainment industries
could change. And she was a survivor. As Latin rhythms began to erode tradition
by morphing into boogaloo and early salsa, Cruz began a musical partnership with
Tito Puente that did much to bring out their mutual strengths while
simultaneously embracing both past and future musically. But that's just one of
many tales worth recounting in the life of Celia Cruz- tales better told by her
music.
This Rough Guide collection (focusing heavily on Cruz's work with the
trailblazing Fania Records label) is only a single disc and thus not
all-inclusive, but that does not stop it from being flat-out excellent. The
selections include '60s scorchers that endeared Cruz to Cuban exiles in NYC,
tracks emphasizing the influence of forms like rumba and changui on modern salsa
and sizzling songs that found the middle ground between Cuban and Puerto Rican
grooves that Cruz frequently championed. From deep roots to pop inclinations to
vocals that generously shared space with solos worthy of the best Latin jams,
this CD is a steaming sampling of the greatness that was Celia Cruz.
[Buy
A Rough Guide to Celia Cruz ].
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