CUBA: Sole remaining member of the Buena Vista Social Club, legendary Cuban singer Omara Portuondo talks of success and her former band companions

Record ID: 369614

  • Title: CUBA: Sole remaining member of the Buena Vista Social Club, legendary Cuban singer Omara Portuondo talks of success and her former band companions
  • Date: 30th March 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PORTUONDO IN CONCERT, DANCING WITH MEMBERS OF A TRADITIONAL CUBAN BAND
  • Embargoed: 14th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAB6R7UEXTHX1T2TESYRM8U9ZDH
  • Story Text: At 75 years of age, Omara Portuondo is the only surviving member of the Buena Vista Social Club. But this indomitable Cuban singer continues to perform in her hometown of Havana, carrying the memories of her musical companions with her every time she takes to the stage.
    "I have felt very flattered, very respected and very loved by all of them, as always, but much more because life brought us together this beautiful project. But now I miss them very much, I miss them very much on stage," she said of the singers and musicians who rose to international fame with the release of the Buena Vista Social Club album and film ten years ago.
    The Buena Vista Social Club, a project coordinated by US guitarist Ry Cooder, included legendary singer Compay Segundo, who died in 2003 at the age of 95. Pianist Ruben González died in the same year at 84 years of age, while singer Ibrahim Ferrer passed away last year at 78.
    These were the men who endeared themselves to an international audience and established Cuba firmly on the musical map. It still amazes Portuondo that she made it so far as a girl of mixed race born in Havana in 1930. "A little mulatto girl born here in Cuba, in Havana, in the Cayo Hueso (Key West) neighbourhood, with parents of both roots," is how she described herself recently.
    But this little girl went on to a musical career that spanned 54 years, and garnered her the title the Edith Piaf of Cuba. Her career in show business began in 1945 as a dancer at the Tropicana cabaret. But it wasn't until 1952 that she became known in Cuba, when she sang with the Las d'Aida quartet.
    But despite the fact that she had a well-established career before meeting with Cooder, the singer recognized that much of her international success is due that fateful meeting.
    "A lot of people from all over the world recognize me, so I have to say that I owe my success to the Buena Vista Social Club, which made a lot of people get to know me, and they applaud us, and they also know that I am a symbol of Cuban music and Cuban culture," she said.
    Her version of the ballad "Veinte Anos" ("Twenty Years") with Compay Segundo in the Buena Vista Social Club catapulted her to international stardom. The album sold almost a million copies, won a Grammy and introduced Cuban music to a whole new audience.
    And though all her musical companions have passed away since, Portuondo swears that they are still with her every time she sings on stage.
    "Like it or not, they are always with us, in our hearts and on our stages. On every we always remember Ibrahim, Compay and Ruben Gonzalez," she said.
    The last of her Buena Vista companions to abandon her was singer and composer Pio Leyva, who died on Thursday (March 23) at the age of 88, in Havana.
    But Portuondo soldiers on, with concerts planned this year all over the world, in places as far flung as Colombia, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Britain and France. In October, she plans to celebrate her 76th birthday in Hungary.
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