El tiempo va omara portuondo biography

Omara Portuondo

Cuban singer

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Portuondo and the second or maternal family name is Peláez.

Musical artist

Omara Portuondo Peláez (born 29 October ) is a Cuban singer and dancer.

Omara portuondo Scotsman Edinburgh, Scotland , February 19, , p. Unlike the other musicians featured in the Buena Vista Social Club album and film, Portuondo was a longtime star. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Omara Portuondo. Oman, John Wood —

A founding member of the popular vocal group Cuarteto d'Aida, Portuondo has collaborated with many important Cuban musicians during her long career, including Julio Gutiérrez, Juanito Márquez and Chucho Valdés. Although primarily known for her rendition of boleros, she has recorded in a wide range of styles from jazz to son cubano.

Since , she has been part of the Buena Vista Social Club project, touring extensively and recording several albums with the ensemble. She won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album in , a Latin Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Album in , a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in , and she received three Grammy Award nominations in and a nomination in

Early life and career

Born on 29 October in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood of Havana, Portuondo had three sisters.[1] Her mother, Esperanza Peláez, came from a wealthy family of Spanish ancestry, and had created a scandal by running off with and marrying a black professional baseball player, Bartolo Portuondo.[1] Omara joined the dance group of the Cabaret Tropicana in , following her elder sister, Haydee.

  • She also danced in the Mulatas de Fuego in the theatre Radiocentro, and in other dance groups. The two sisters also used to sing for family and friends, and they also performed in Havana clubs. In , Portuondo and Haydee joined the Loquibambia Swing, a group formed by the blind pianist Frank Emilio Flynn.[2][3]

    From &#;, she sang for the Orquesta Anacaona, and later in both sisters joined (together with Elena Burke and Moraima Secada) the singing group Cuarteto d'Aida, formed and directed by pianist Aida Diestro.[2] The group had considerable success, touring the United States, performing with Nat King Cole at the Tropicana, and recording a album for RCA Victor.[4] In , pianist and composer Julio Gutiérrez invited Portuondo to sing for his ensemble in a series of recordings bridging jazz and Cuban music for the record label Velvet.

    The result was Magia Negra, her debut solo album.[5] Haydee left the Cuarteto d'Aida in in order to live in the US, and Omara continued singing with the quartet until

    &#;present

    In , Portuondo began to focus on her solo career, recording two albums for Areito, Omara Portuondo and Esta es Omara Portuondo.[5] In the same year she represented Cuba at the Sopot Festival in Poland, singing Juanito Márquez' "Como un milagro".

    Alongside her solo work, in the s she sang with the charangaOrquesta Aragón, and toured with them abroad.

    In , she recorded with guitarist Martín Rojas, an album in which she lauds Salvador Allende and the people of Chile a year after the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.

    Read Edit View history. The legendary Cuban has so much energy that it was natural for her to invite some of her lifelong friends to participate in the recording of an album. Velvet, Areito , World Circuit. I take the best from everywhere," Portuondo told San Diego Union-Tribune writer Andrew Gilbert through an interpreter she speaks Spanish in interviews.

    Among other hits from the album, she sang Carlos Puebla's hit "Hasta Siempre, Comandante", which refers to Ché Guevara. She also recorded "Y que se sepa", with one of the most successful Cuban bands of the late 20th century, Los Van Van. Later on she performed with Juan Formell, singing Formell's song "Tal vez", a song she recorded later on with Maria Bethania.

    During the s and s, Portuondo enjoyed success at home and abroad, with tours, albums (including one of her most lauded recordings in with Adalberto Álvarez), film roles, and her own television series.

    In , the International Red Cross appointed her International Ambassador, the first Cuban musician to hold this title, in Montreal, Canada.

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  • Details

    • In , she performed the title role to sold-out audiences in Lizt Alfonso's dance musical "Vida", the story of modern Cuba through the eyes and with the memories of an old woman. In this same year, her performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival was released on DVD. She recorded in a duet album with Brazilian singer Maria Bethânia named Maria Bethânia e Omara Portuondo.

    In , she recorded the album Gracias as a tribute to the 60th anniversary of her singing career. Today, Omara lives in a high-rise apartment just off the Malecón, Havana, overlooking the sea. She remains a popular fixture on the local music scene, singing regularly at the Tropicana Club, the Delirio Habanero and the Café Cantante.[3]

    Buena Vista Social Club

    Portuondo sang (duetting with Ibrahim Ferrer) on the album Buena Vista Social Club in This led not only to more touring (including playing at Carnegie Hall with the Buena Vista troupe) and her appearance in Wim Wenders' film Buena Vista Social Club, but to two further albums for the World Circuit label: Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo () and Flor de Amor ().

    She remains a member of Buena Vista Social Club, being the only original vocalist to do so.

    El tiempo va omara portuondo biography Knowing her human sense, it was only natural that Omara wanted to express herself in such significant moments. By the early s, Portuondo's schedule had slowed down a bit, but the Buena Vista Social Club projects brought her a whole new generation of admirers. Two years later, the rising career of Cuarteto las d'Aida was blocked by the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba assisted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency and the subsequent Cuban missile crisis showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union. The album included an old song called "Tabu" that addressed the theme of interracial love.

    Discography

    • Magia Negra (Velvet, Reissued by Kubaney and Kristal ) – With Julio Gutiérrez
    • Seis Voces y un Sentimiento (Egrem , )
    • Omara Portuondo (Areito , )
    • Esta es Omara Portuondo (Areito , )
    • Omara Portuondo: Omara! (Areito , )
    • Omara Portuondo & Martín Rojas (Love Records, ) – With Martín Rojas
    • Y Tal Vez (Areito , )
    • Canta El Son (Areito , )
    • Omara Portuondo, Adalberto Alvarez Y Su Son (Sonografica , ) – With Adalberto Y Su Son
    • Pensamiento (Artex TKF-CD, )
    • Palabras (Intuition/Nubenegra INT , )
    • Buena Vista Social Club (World Circuit, )
    • Desafios (Intuition/Nubenegra , ) – With Chucho Valdés
    • Oro Musical (Max Music, )
    • Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo (World Circuit, )
    • Omara Portuondo: Roots of Buena Vista (Egrem CD, )
    • Roots of Buena Vista: La Novia Del Feeling (Egrem CD, ) – With Orquesta Todos Estrellas
    • La Gran Omara Portuondo (Egrem CD, )
    • Dos Gardenias (Tumi Records, )
    • La Sitiera (WEA, )
    • You (King, )
    • Joyas Inéditas (Egrem , )
    • La Colección Cubana (Nascente, )
    • Flor De Amor (World Circuit, )
    • Together (Havana Nites HN, ) – With Ibrahim Ferrer
    • Together Again (Havana Nites HN, ) – With Ibrahim Ferrer
    • Sentimiento (La Escondida, )
    • Lágrimas Negras (Canciones y Boleros) (Yemaya, )
    • The Essential Omara Portuondo (Manteca, )
    • Quiereme Mucho (PID, )
    • Together (Soliton, ) – With Celina González
    • Singles (Malanga Music MM ,)
    • Duets (Malanga Music MM , )
    • Maria Bethânia e Omara Portuondo (Biscoito Fino, ) – With Maria Bethânia
    • Gracias (World Village, )
    • Omara & Chucho (Random Music, ) – With Chucho Valdés
    • Magia Negra: The Beginning (World Village, )
    • Omara Siempre (Egrem, )
    • Mariposas (Bis Music, )
    • Vida (One World Music, )

    Selected filmography

    • Buena Vista Social Club ()
    • Live in Montreal ()
    • Omara Portuondo & Maria Bethânia Live ()
    • Omara & Chucho ()

    See also

    References

    1. ^ abIván García (2 November ).

      "In Cuba We Lack A Lot of Things, But We Have Omara Portuondo". Retrieved 30 January

    2. ^ abGiro Radamés Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba. La Habana. vol 2, p5.
    3. ^ abWorld Music "World Music ".

      World Music Retrieved 17 August

    4. ^Victor LP Cuarteto d'Aida con la orquesta de Chico O'Farrill. An evening at the Sans Souci.
    5. ^ abDíaz Ayala, Cristóbal (Fall ).

      Flor de Amor , World Circuit, Independent London, England , April 7, , p. Sources Periodicals Boston Globe , July 30, , p. In her 90s, Omara found herself trapped in Havana because of the pandemic.

      "Omara Portuondo"(PDF). Encyclopedic Discography of Cuban Music . Florida International University Libraries. Retrieved 29 January

    External links