BERIGAN Posted July 16, 2003 Report Posted July 16, 2003 Cuban Salsa Queen Celia Cruz Dies at 77 By CHAKA FERGUSON Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Celia Cruz, the Cuban-born singer who went from singing in Havana nightclubs to become the "Queen of Salsa," died Wednesday, her publicist said. Cruz, who was 77, died of a brain tumor. She had surgery for the ailment in December but her health faltered. She died at her home in Fort Lee, N.J., according to her publicist, Blanca Lasalle. In the 1950s, Cruz became famous with the legendary Afro-Cuban group La Sonora Matancera. She left Cuba for the United States in 1960, and was credited with bringing salsa music to a broad audience. Cruz, who recorded more than 70 albums and had more than a dozen Grammy nominations, won best salsa album for "La Negra Tiene Tumbao" at the 2002 Latin Grammy Awrds. Among her other best-known recordings are "Yerberito Moreno" and "Que le Den Candela." Called the "Queen of Salsa" and the "diva of Latin song," Cruz remained energetic late into her career. At last year's Latin Grammys, she showed up wearing a frothy blue-and-white headpiece and a tight red dress and gave a hip-shaking performance. Advertisement Obituaries in the News Cuban Salsa Queen Celia Cruz Dies at 77 Ex-Cowboys President Schramm Dies at 83 Siskel& Ebert Visionary Eliot Wald Dies Pioneer of Early Indian Cinema Dies Chilean Writer Roberto Bolano Dies at 50 Latest Music News Cuban Salsa Queen Celia Cruz Dies at 77 NY Philharmonic Stands by Merger Decision White Stripes Cancel Series of Gigs Springsteen Opens 10-Concert Run in N.J. Pretenders Singer Protests at Paris KFC Madonna to Star in Gap Ad Campaign Cubans Mourn Segundo in Funeral March Andrews Says Making Videos Is Hard Work Judge OKs Diana Ross Breath Test Results Musicians Learning to Prevent Injuries Cruz's alliance with fellow salsa star Tito Puente garnered her some of the biggest success in her career. In 1987, she was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and several years later, the city of Miami gave Calle Ocho, the main street of its Cuban community, the honorary name of Celia Cruz Way. Cruz also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Smithsonian Institution and in 1994, President Clinton honored her with an award from the National Endowment of the Arts. Quote
Big Wheel Posted July 16, 2003 Report Posted July 16, 2003 Terrible news. We were just talking about her in my Spanish class today. Quote
catesta Posted July 16, 2003 Report Posted July 16, 2003 I've seen her many times on Telemundo. No doubt she was very popular. RIP Celia. Quote
JSngry Posted July 16, 2003 Report Posted July 16, 2003 The world I know is becoming more and more one I don't... Sad. I saw her live a few times, and she had charisma out the wazzoo, to say nothing of being a powerful and truly gifted singer. Not for nothing did she rule the roost for decades. R.I.P. Reina Quote
brownie Posted July 17, 2003 Report Posted July 17, 2003 What a voice! What a mujere! Very sad news. Quote
The Mule Posted July 17, 2003 Report Posted July 17, 2003 Another magnificent voice silenced. She will be missed. (one of her best recordings, btw) Quote
JSngry Posted July 17, 2003 Report Posted July 17, 2003 (edited) As is this one: Worth the cost of admission for Luis Ortiz' (whatever happened to THAT cat?) total reimaging of "Tu Y Las Nubes" alone, but the be much more delight to be had. And if you can find it, get this one: Side 2 is more of The All Stars' woefully misguided, totally suckass attempts at disco, but Side 1 is primo mid-70s salsa, and a highlight is Cruz' rendition of "Isadora", which, believe it or not, is a tribute to Isadora Duncan and features some really nice solo work by Eric Gale (!!!!). The first time I saw Cruz was in the late 70s in Dallas. The venue was an abandoned supermarket turned Latin dancehall, and the place was freakin' PACKED. I worked my way to the front of the stage. She was backed by Sonora Matancera, who by then must have had an average age of 127. Or older. You look at these guys and think you're at a salsa Chuck E. Cheese or something, they don't look real. Until they started to play. THEN the shit got heavy. Those old men were jamming like music was all that was keeping them alive and like they didn't plan on dying anytime too soon, which for all I know might have been EXACTLY what was going on. Celia was regal, La Reina Suprema, and she rode the music and worked the crowd in a way that was beyond masterful deeply into intuitive communality. Them Cuban cats don't really care how long a groove goes (hey, it's a GROOVE for Crissakes, why would you WANT to worry about how long it lasts, hmmm?????), and even the boleros were extended. But the guaguancos and the other uptempo things were where the action was, and they just locked into that groove and held it. Trumpet great Chocolate was on the gig too, so between Celia, Sonora (GOD, I can still see that sqareheaded piano player who looked older than life and had hands the size of a preschooler playing those montunos...) and their coro, and him, there was no need to be in a hurry to get anything over with. The dance floor was packed like the proverbial sardine can, but their were no collisions. Everybody was dancing in their own space, yet the room and the floor was moving as a single organism, with Celia the goddess who was calling the shots. We older jazz folk like to refer to the whole call-and-response thing like it's a jazz thing, but it's not - it's an AFRICAN Thing, and Cuba has got those roots probably deeper than anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. It's quite the improvisational art, that singing the responses to the coro's calls is, and Celia just RULED. She had no limits and knew no fear (but why WOULD she?). This was music in its purest communal form performed at its highest artistic peak. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I'd have never believed the vibe if somebody hadda tried to describe it to me. But it was RIGHT in a way that very few musical experiences are, and I was blessed to be there. One of the most beautiful nights of my life, that one was. I even danced. A LOT. Not particularly GOOD, but I danced. I wanted to. I HAD to. It would have been blasphemous not to. Gracias, Maestra. MUCHAS gracias. Edited July 17, 2003 by JSngry Quote
Stefan Wood Posted July 17, 2003 Report Posted July 17, 2003 Celia's work DEMANDS for a box set treatment. Her fabulous work with Sonora Poncena, to her 60's efforts with Tito Puente (if you are looking for more suggestions, buy ANY Tico reissue date with Puente and Cruz; they make music that smoked right from the beginning), and her work with the Fania All Stars (Live at Yankee Stadium -- -woosh!), her collaborations with Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco, etc, right up to the present. I saw her play at George Washington University a year or so ago, and she is simply TIMELESS. What really worked for her was her vocal power and clarity, and what made her unique in the Latin world was her masculine voice. Sure, you can say that Celina Gonzalez (also from Cuba, and would have been as highly regarded at Celia but she stayed in Cuba), Albita and others also have masculine voices, but none had the total package that Celia had. Or the costumes, and wigs....... ) She will be missed. Quote
mikeweil Posted July 17, 2003 Report Posted July 17, 2003 La incomparable, indeed. Another great loss, this is a sad year. R.I.P. Celia, aché ..... Quote
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