Cubanocast

Without knowing her by name, I became familiar with Omara Portuondo during my semi-obsessive Cuban music days, when I spent much of my last couple of years of college acquiring and learning about Cuban music. Cuarteto d'Aida is one of the acts on the BMG Tropical Series, which has some great Beny More cds as well as Tito Puente and others.

d'Aida mostly sang covers, so nobody can claim that they were trailblazers. Still, Omara, her sister, Elena Burke, and Moraima Secada had beautiful voices. The first song in this post is a combination of "Yenyere Cumae" and "El Bombon de Elena," a Puerto Rican song. I also like "Carinito Azucarado."

The Cuarteto stayed in Cuba after the revolution and I've heard some of their songs from this period. Similar to their late fifties stuff, but with revolutionary themes. Omara was rediscovered by international audiences with the release of Ry Cooder's Buena Vista Social Club. She sang "Veinte Anos" with Ibraham Ferrer.

The album she won the Grammy for is called Gracias. The lovely Brazilian-style title song is the podcast.