Track Listing

1. Inolvidable
2. Veinte Años
3. Lágrimas Negras
4. Niebla del Riachuelo
5. Corazón Loco
6. Se Me Olvidó Que Te Olvidé
7. Vete de Mí
8. Bien Pagá
9. Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #207301 in Music
• Released on: 2004-01-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Album Description
Winners of three PREMIOS DE LA MUSICA AWARDS (Spanish Academy of Musical Arts & Sciences) Lágrimas Negras, a collection of old standards performed by Cuban jazz pianist Bebo Valdes and Spanish flamenco vocalist Diego el Cigala.

This was recorded at the suggestion of Hollywood Oscar® Award-winning director, Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque), which has become a phenomenon in Spain.

The result is a journey that discovers the essence of the Latino "love" song with connections to Cuba, Central and South America, and Spain.

Picked by New York Times critic Ben Rattcliff as "the best album of the year", Lágrimas Negras has had an impressive debut. The album has never been out of the top 30 since its release in Spain over nine months ago, achieving double Platinum sales status. It has won five Amigo Awards, one Premio Ondas, and three Premios de la Musica Awards (including Best Album).

Amazon.com
This album pairs one of the greatest flamenco singers of today, cantaor Diego El Cigala, with one of Cuba's finest Afro-Cuban pianists, Bebo Valdes. With Valdes (father of the great Chucho Valdes) born in 1918, there's a 40-year age difference between the pianist and the singer, but they do a fine job crossing generations and oceans to discover the commonalities between Caribbean and the Iberian music, coming up with a romantic marriage of the two cultures using rumbas, guajira, sons and boleros. All the songs are classics out of the Latin music tradition, using just a handful of players in support. Valdes's fingers are delicate and prone to dramatic flourishes; Cigala's voice is pure flamenco in its hoarse intonation, cadence and emotional outpourings. The two masters make the union work by focusing on the drama of the love songs--"Veinte Años," "Inolvidable" and the title track are just three amazing examples--as fuel for some of the most exquisitely passionate music to come out in ages. --Tad Hendrickson

NY Times, 12/28/03, By BEN RATLIFF
...using boleros as the medium, they merge languages and come up with a beautifully realized third path.

Customer Reviews

Sublime
That's pianist Bebo Valdes, one of Cuba's great jam session players of the 1950s (and still a potent force on the music scene) and flamenco vocalist Diego "El Cigala," whose half-croaked, Arabic-tinged inflections offer a fine counterpoint to Valdes's trademark sleek, supple piano runs. Cigala sounds like he, too, must be an ancient old-timer, un viejo, like all those Buena Vista dudes... But in fact he is a youngster, a ponytailed whippersnapper who just happens to channel weight of the the ages... Quite a lot of gravitas, subtlety and artistic firepower is assembled here; just to spice things up, they bring in some highpowered guests, such as jazzman Paquito D'Rivera, Milton Cardona and Brazilian superstar Caetano Veloso, who duets with El Cigala on a version of "Coracao Vagabundo," which closes the album. Also included are classic compositions by Miguel Matamoros, Maria Teresa Vera and other Latin American and Iberian legends. Mighty classy material.

Sublime
Lágrimas Negras is the title of a song written by Cuban composer Miguel Matamoros in the 1930s. It says: "Aunque tú me has dejado en el abandono/aunque tú has muerto todas mis ilusiones (Although you have abandoned me/Although you have killed all of my hopes..."). It is also the title track of this new album by Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés (born in 1918) and Spanish flamenco cantaor Diego el Cigala (born in 1960). These two men though born 50 years apart, and two worlds away from each other, have recorded nine passionate songs on a beautiful album. It was as emotive to listen to as it was to hear John Coltrane for the first time. Or, Vinicius de Moraes for the first time. Or Roberto el Polaco Goyeneche for the first time.

This original pairing between Bebo Valdés and el Cigala is sublime. The songs are all standards, but the arrangements are not. Each song features Valdes' smooth jazzy piano melodies and el Cigala's guttural, passionate vocals. To appreciate the entire album's sophisticated textures, it can be listened to in absolute darkness so all of one's senses can focus on its velvety and harsh beauty.

Lagrimas Negras is Sublime!
This album combining two maestros from completely different disciplines is a confluence of genius and a love letter to all the composers whose songs are included. After hearing the first verse of the first track my Mother(who has sung many latin love songs in Spanish in her singing career) remarked, "This is tasty!" That summed it up perfectly. Lagrimas Negras will surprise you, seduce you, entrance you, and ultimately force you to throw away your musical preconceptions. Perhaps this is why The New York Times named it their Critics Choice Album of the Year for 2003 - perhaps it could be the album of the year for 2004 also?