PABLO MILANES

Pablo Milanés Arias (born in Bayamo, Cuba on February 24, 1943) is a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitar player. He studied at a conservatory in Havana. He is considered one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola. He is a pianist and guitarist whose Brazilian-like melodies set him apart from the raw style of Silvio Rodriguez.

Once aligned with the government, Milanés has since distanced himself from the official line, to the point of, during the seventies, being sent to a reeducation prison; he has since taken a more discreet line, even occupying political posts in times of greater political freedoms. In the current persecutory environment, he keeps himself mostly quiet, but still avoids participating in pro-government campaigns; in January 26, 2006, he signed a petition supporting Puerto Rico’s independence from the United States of America, that’s considered a declaration against hardliners outside Cuba.
At this last paragraph I (AV) would add: Would you like to see Cuba as another state of US or full independent led by their sons.? Cuba should be free !

A number of artists have performed with him; among them Silvio Rodríguez, Joaquín Sabina, Ana Belén, Lilia Vera, Joan Manuel Serrat, Víctor Manuel, Compay Segundo, Raul Torres and Chucho Valdes stand out.

Among his songs, “Yolanda”, “Yo me quedo”, “Amo a esta isla”, “Yo pisaré las calles nuevamente”, “Para Vivir”, and “El breve espacio en que no estás” are especially well-known.

Pablo Milanés has been characterized by maintaining a position of public criticism of the mistakes that, in his view, were committed in the conduct of the Cuban Revolution, not against the process of the revolution. In March 2010, asked about the hunger strike of Guillermo Fariñas , Milanés said: “We must condemn from the human point of view. These things are not done. The ideas are discussed and fight, not jail. ” In the same interview, he advocated a change in Cuba, but keeping the Castros in power. In August 2011 Pablo visited Miami in Concert at the American Arline Coliseum receiving a very welcome for more than 3,000 persons who assisted. Later on in different messages to the press kept condemning the actual government in Cuba always with moderate interviews to the press. From Habana the singer Silvio Rodriguez condemned with harsh words Pablo declarations in Miami.

1991 – Canto de la Abuela
1991 – Filin 4
1991 – Filin 5
1992 – Años 3, with Luis Peña, Cotán, Compay Segundo
1993 – Querido Pablo
1994 – Canta Boleros en Tropicana
1994 – Evolución
1994 – Igual Que Ayer, con Caco Senante
1994 – Orígenes
1994 – Plegaria
1995 – Si Yo Volviera a Nacer, with María Felicia, José María Vitier
1995 – En Blanco y Negro, con Víctor Manuel
1997 – Despertar
1998 – Vengo Naciendo
2000 – Días de Gloria
2000 – Live from New York City
2002 – Pablo Querido
2005 – Como un Campo de Maíz
2005 – Líneas Paralelas, with Andy Montáñez
2007 – Mas Alla De Todo (with Chuco Valdes)
2008 – Regalo
2008 – Feeling 6
2008 – Raul y Pablo (with Raul Torres)
2010 – Palacio Municipal de Congresos de Madrid (live with Chucho Valdes)

Sources: Wiki/PabloM./InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

EL TRIO MATAMOROS

The Trio Matamoros were one of the most popular Cuban trova groups. Formed in 1925 by Miguel Matamoros (Santiago de Cuba, 8 May 1894 – 15 April 1971; guitar), Rafael Cueto (Santiago de Cuba, 14 March 1900 – 7 August 1991; guitar) and Siro Rodriguez (Santiago de Cuba, 9 December 1899 – Regla, 29 March 1981; maracas and claves). All three were singers and composers.

The Trio Matamoros played boleros and son. They toured all Latin America and Europe and recorded in New York. In 1940 Guillermo Portabales performed with the trio. Matamoros expanded the trio into a conjunto for a trip to Mexico and hired the young Beny Moré as singer from 1945 to 1947. They recorded many 78rpm records and LPs; some of their output is available on CDs. The group were renowned for the harmony of their voices, and the quality of the lyrics.

Matamoros was one of the greatest and most prolific composers of the Cuban son; his first hit was El que siembra su maiz (literally, he who sows his corn). Lágrimas negras (Black tears) and Mamá, son de la loma / y cantan en llano (Ma, they’re from the hill, and they sing on the plain, meaning, they’re from Oriente and they sing in Havana). The group, whose members stayed together for 35 years, disbanded in 1960.

Sources: Wiki/Matamoros/InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

PAQUITO D’RIVERA

Paquito D’Rivera born 4 June 1948 in Havana, Cuba is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist.

Paquito was a child prodigy. He started learning music at the age of 5 with his father Tito Rivera, a well-known classical saxophonist and conductor in Cuba.

D’Rivera grew up in Cuba, playing both saxophone and clarinet and performing with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba at a young age.

When he was seven, became the youngest artist ever to endorse a musical instrument, when he signed on with the music company Selmer.

By 1980, D’Rivera was dissatisfied about the constraints placed on his music in Cuba for many years, and had always longed to come to the United States. In early 1981, while on tour in Spain, he sought asylum with the American Embassy, and left his homeland, wife and child behind in search of a better life with a promise to get them out. Upon his arrival in the United States, D’Rivera found help from many people for him and his family. His mother Maura and his sister Rosario had left Cuba in 1968 and had become US citizens. Many notables who reached out to help Paquito were Dizzy Gillespie, David Amram, Mario Bauza and Bruce Lundvall, who gave him first solo recording date. D’Rivera quickly earned respect among American jazz musicians and was introduced to the jazz scene at some of the most prestigious clubs and concert halls in New York. He became something of a phenomenon after the release of his first two solo albums, Paquito Blowin (June 1981) and Mariel (July 1982).

Throughout his career in the United States, D’Rivera’s albums have received reviews from critics and have hit the top of the jazz charts. His albums have shown a progression that demonstrates his extraordinary abilities in bebop, classical and Latin/Caribbean music. D’Rivera’s expertise transcends musical genres as he is the only artist to ever have won Grammy Awards in both Classical and Latin Jazz categories.

D’Rivera also plays with “crossover” artists such as the Ying Quartet, Turtle Island String Quartet, cellist Mark Summer, pianist Alon Yavnai, and Yo-Yo Ma. He has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall and played with the National Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, YOA Orchestra of the Americas, Costa Rican Symphony Orchestra, American Youth Philharmonic, and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra.

D’Rivera is an Artist in Residence at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and artistic director of the Festival International de Jazz en el Tambo in Uruguay. He is also a member of the Alon Yavnai-Paquito D’Rivera Duet and the Jazz Chamber Trio.

He has also written a memoir entitled My Sax Life.

In 2005, D’Rivera wrote a letter criticizing musician Carlos Santana for his decision to wear a t-shirt with the image of Che Guevara on it to the 2005 Academy Awards, citing Guevara’s role in the execution of counter-revolutionaries in Cuba, including his own cousin.

D’Rivera was a judge for the 5th and 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

Awards and nominations

U.S. President George W. Bush stands with recipients of the 2005 National Medal of Arts on November 9, 2005, in the Oval Office.
1979 “Irakere” Best Latin Recording – 22nd Annual Grammy Awards
1996 Portraits of Cuba won Best Latin Jazz Performance – 39th Annual Grammy Awards
2000 “Music of Two Worlds” nominated Best Classical Album – 42nd Annual Grammy Awards
2000 “Tropicana Nights” won Best Latin Jazz Album – 1st Annual Latin Grammy Awards
2001 “Paquito D’Rivera Quintet, Live at the Blue Note” won Best Latin Jazz Album – 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards
2001 “The Clarinetist Vol. 1” nominated Best Classical Crossover Album – 43rd Annual Grammy Awards
2003 “Brazilian Dreams” won Best Latin Jazz Album – 4th Annual Latin Grammy Awards
2003 “Historia del Soldado” won Best Classical Album – 4th Annual Latin Grammy Awards
2003 Doctorate Honoris Causa in Music, Berklee College of Music
2004 “Merengue” won Best Instrumental Composition – 47th Annual Grammy Awards
2004 Jazz Journalists Association, Clarinet of the Year Award
2005 National Medal of Arts recipient
2005 National Endowment for the Arts – Jazz Masters recipient
2008 Funk Tango won Best Latin Jazz Album – 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

Discography

1978-79 Irakere CBS Records LP35655
1979 Havana Jam LP PC2/36053 (incorrectly “P. Rivera” on label)
1981 God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen CBS Records LP37551 D’Rivera appears as Guest Artist in “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
1981 Paquito D’Rivera Blowin’ CBS Records FC37374
1982 Mariel CBS Records FC38177
1983 The Young Lions Elektra/Musicians 60*196 D’Rivera appears as Guest Artist
1983 Paquito D’Rivera Live at the Keystone Korner CBS Records FC38899
1984 Paquito D’Rivera Why Not! CBS Records FC39584
1985 Explosion CBS Records JZ*20038
1987 Paquito D’Rivera Manhattan Burn CBS Records FC40583
1988 Paquito D’Rivera Celebration CBS Records C44077
1989 If Only You Knew Victor Mendoza L&R Records CDLR450*19 D’Rivera appears as Guest Artist
1989 Libre-Echange Free Trade/Gerald Danovitch Saxophone Quartet CBC JazzImage 2-0118
1989 Paquito D’Rivera Tico Tico Chesky Records JD34
1989 Return to Ipanema Town Crier TCD516 (Re-issued by Town Crier as Paquito D’Rivera)
1989 Live at Royal Festival Hall Dizzy Gillespie & The United Nation Orchestra Enja RZ 79658 (USA: Mesa/Blue Moon 79658) D’Rivera appears as Guest Artist
1990 Live at Birdland Claudio Roditi Candid 79515
1991 Reunion/Paquito D’Rivera Featuring Arturo Sandoval Messidor CD-15805-2 re-released *2004 Pimienta Records 245 360 610-2
1991 Havana Cafe Chesky Records JD60
1992 Paquito D’Rivera Who’s Smokin’?! with James Moody Candid CCD79523
1992 La Habana-Rio Conexión (The Havana-Rio Connection) Messidor 158*20-2
1993 Paquito D’Rivera Presents 40 Years of Cuban Jam Session Messidor 15826-2
1994 Paquito D’Rivera & The United Nation Orchestra/A Night in Englewood Messidor 15829-2
1995 The Caribbean Jazz Project Artists: Paquito D’Rivera/Dave Samuels/Andy Narell Heads Up International HUCD 3033/HUMC 3033
1996 Messidor’s Finest Volume 1 Paquito D’Rivera Messidor 15841-2 Compilation
1996 First Take (Groovin’ High) Ed Cherry (France) A Division of Polygram D’Rivera performs in “Achango’s Dance”
1996 Portraits of Cuba Paquito D’Rivera Chesky Records JD145
1997 Paquito D’Rivera Chamber Music from the South featuring Pablo Zinger and Gustavo Tavares Recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Mix House MH0002
1997 Pixinguinha 100 Años/Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Filho Recorded Live at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil January, *1997 D’Rivera performs as Guest Artist in “Naquele Tempo” and “Um A Zero”
1997 Caribbean Jazz Project Island Stories/Paquito D’Rivera/Dave Samuels/Andy Narell Heads Up HUCD3039
1997 Baksa for Winds Bronx Arts Ensemble D’Rivera performs “Alto Sax Sonata” Newport Classic NPD85624
1997 Paquito D’Rivera & The United Nation Orchestra Live at MCG Recorded live at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 14, *1997 Jazz MCG1003 (Blue Jackel)
1998 Paquito D’Rivera 100 Years of Latin Love Songs Heads Up International Ltd. INAK 30452
1998 Musica de Dos Mundos/Music from Two Worlds Paquito D’Rivera/Brenda Feliciano/Aldo Antognazzi Recorded December, *1998 in Argentina Acqua Records aq 012
1999 Paquito D’Rivera – Habanera Absolute Ensemble/Kristjan Jarvi Enja Records ENJ-9395 2 Recorded September, *1999 at Clinton Studio, NYC features D’Rivera compositions and appears as Guest Artist
1999 Paquito D’Rivera Cubarama Termidor Musikverlag Recorded May, *1999 Compilation
1999 Paquito D’Rivera Tropicana Nights/Un Paraíso Bajo Las Estrellas De Cuba Chesky Records JD186 Recorded April *20-21, *1999
2000 Paquito D’Rivera Quintet Live at the Blue Note Half Note Records 516*20 Recorded New York, August *20, *1999
2001 Jazz Latino/A Collection of Latin Inspirations Chesky Records JD212 Features D’Rivera compositions “Peanut Vendor” and “Chucho” and appears as Guest Artist
2001 Turtle Island String Quartet/Danzon Koch International Classics KIC-CD-7529 Features D’Rivera compositions and appears as Guest Artist
2001 Mexico City Woodwind Quintet/Visiones Panamericanas Urtext Digital Classics JB CC051 performing D’Rivera composition “Wapango”
2001 Calle 54 OST, from Fernando Trueba’s film
2002 Paquito D’Rivera & The WDR Band/Big Band Time Termidor Musikverlag & Timba Records 59773-2
2002 Historia Del Soldado (L’ Histoire du Soldat) DD&R CB R014 Distributed by KARONTE Impresión: A.G.S ISBN 84-95561-15-8
2002 Paquito D’Rivera/Brazilian Dreams Featuring the New York Voices and Claudio Roditi Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild MCGJ 1010
2002 Paquito D’Rivera/The Clarinetist Universal Records 160523
2002 The Best of Paquito D’Rivera Legacy/Sony Records International SICP 5044 Compilation
2002 The American Saxophone Quartet with Paquito D’Rivera The Commission Project (Paquito D’Rivera/Franco D’Rivera) Sons of Sound Recorded Music SSPCD009
2004 Riberas/Paquito D’Rivera Cuarteto de Cuerdas Buenos Aires EpsaMusic 0500-02
2004 Paquito D’Rivera The Jazz Chamber Trio with Mark Summer, cello and Alon Yavnai, piano Chesky Records JD293
2005 Amazon River – Hendrik Meurkens Blue Toucan Music D’Rivera appears as Guest Artist in “Lingua de Mosquito” and “The Peach”
2006 Musica Para Los Amigos/ Paquito Para Los Amigos Sony/ BMG 828768*19032 Compilation
2006 Caribbean Jazz Project/ Mosaic Concord Music Group, Inc. CCD 30033-2 D’Rivera appears as Guest Artist on numerous tracks
2008 Sebastian Schunke/ Paquito D´Rivera Back in New York with Antonio Sanchez, John Benitez, Pernell Saturnino, Anders Nilsson (Connector)
2009 Paquito D’Rivera/Chano Domínguez – Quartier Latin, lky records.

Soures: Wiki/PaquitoR/Youtube/InternetPhotos
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

WILLY CHIRINO

Willy, was born April 5, 1947 in Consolación del Sur, Pinar del Río, Cuba, is a great entertainer and singer in the salsa style.

His father was the town’s State Attorney and his mother was a pharmacist who worked at home. He was the only boy in his family (he had three sisters). His town did not have any crime and was very peaceful; the worst thing that happened was someone trying to steal medicine from their house. He lived a calm life in this town for fourteen years.

and the Revolution

After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, many Cubans fled to the United States. Some thought it was a temporary measure and hoped to return soon afterwards, but when it became apparent that the revolution was going to continue, more Cubans left the island. In 1960 came to the United States through “Operation Peter Pan”, designed to get Cuban children out of the country due to, among other things, fears that the government would take them from their parents. This US government sponsored program, in conjunction with the Catholic Welfare Bureau, eventually transported approximately 14,000 Cuban children to the United States and placed them in foster homes until their parents could leave the island. Much later, Chirino would record “Nuestro Día Ya Viene Llegando” (“Our Day is Coming”), a song loosely based on his experiences as a refugee which has become an anthem for Cuban exiles everywhere.

Professional career

Chirino began his artistic career in Miami, releasing his first album in 1974. Since then, he has recorded over 20 albums, several of which have attained platinum and gold status. In 2006, his album “Son del Alma”, won a Grammy for Best Salsa/Merengue Album. As founder of the Foundation, his philanthropic efforts have been recognized by UNICEF and the Department of State. He celebrated his 35th anniversary in music with his latest released album “ Live-35th Anniversary” (“Willy Chirino En Vivo-35 Aniversario”), a CD/ combo of the concert. This album brought him his first nomination for Best Salsa Album at the 2007 Latin Grammy Awards. Most recently, Chirino and his wife, singer/song writer Lissette Álvarez, released their first album together, Amarraditos (Bound to One Another). The CD includes a potpourri of classic Spanish-language love songs. Chirino’s latest album, “Pa’lante” , was released at spring 2008, after which he launched a world tour.

His Family

His first marriage was to Olga Maria Rodriguez and produced three daughters; Angie, Olga Maria and Jessica. He later married Lissette Álvarez and had three more children- Nicole, Alana, and Gianfranco. He and his wife support the Cuban dissident movement, Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura (I Don’t Cooperate with the Dictatorship).

Discography

1974: One man alone
1975: Chirino
1976: Chirino 3
1977: Quien salvo la ciudad
1978: Evolucion
1980: Diferente
1981: La salsa y yo
1982: Chirinismo
1983: Come into my music
1984: Subiendo
1985: 14 exitos
1985: Zarabanda
1988: Amandote
1990: Acuarela del Caribe
1991: Oxígeno
1992: Un tipo tipico
1993: South beach
1995: Asere
1997: Baila conmigo
1998: Cuba libre
2000: Greatest hits
2000: Soy
2001: Afrodisiac
2004: Son del alma
2005: Cubanismo
2007: Amarraditos (with Lisette)
2008: Pa’lante
2011: My Beatles Heart

Sources:Wiki/WiIllieLife/youtube/Internetphoto
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

LOS ZAFIROS

(The Sapphires) were a Cuban close-harmony vocal group working from 1961–1970. The group was part of the filín (feeling) movement, inspired by American doo-wop groups such as The Platters. Their music was a fusion of Cuban genres, such as the bolero, with doo-wop, ballads, R&B, calypso, Bossa Nova and rock.

Los Zafiros were formed in Cayo Hueso, Havana in 1961, by Néstor Milí Bustillo, with the members:
Leoncio Morúa (Kike)
Miguel Cancio (Miguelito)
Ignacio Elejalde, a counter-tenor, in high register.
Eduardo Elio Hernández (El Chino)
Néstor Milí Bustillo, musical director and guitar.

later, Manuel Galbán (guitar) became musical director, and at times Oscar Aguirre (guitar) substituted.

In 1987 another group formed as Los Nuevos Zafiros.

The group was highly successful from the start, with high record sales and popular tours at home and abroad. However, some members of the group were self-destructive and undisciplined, with heavy drinking and other activities. Two died young: Ignacio died in 1981 at the age of 37 from a brain hemorrhage. Kike died in 1983 from cirrhosis of the liver. El Chino, beset by vision, speech and drinking problems, lived alone in Cayo Hueso until his death on 8 August 1995 at age 56. Today only two members are alive, Manuel Galban and Miguel Cancio. Cancio lives in Miami.

Manuel Galbán and his wife still live in the same house in Havana as in the heyday of . He is still active on the Cuban music scene through his work in The Buena Vista Social Club and as a recording artist for World Circuit records. In 2001, World Circuit arranged a special recording session for Galbán and Cancio at EGREM. Along with Orlando Lopez (Cachaito), Roberto Garcia and Bernardo Garcia (Chori), Cancio and Galbán recorded two of their old songs. This session plays a central role in the film and marks the first time that Galbán and Cancio recorded together in over thirty years.

http://youtu.be/ukWzD9YmVSE

The song, “He Venido,” sung by , recently in 2011 took the spotlight as a feature musical theme in the AMC television series Breaking Bad. The central scene from Episode 306 contains footage filmed in a scrap hauler’s yard of the destruction by compacting of the Recreational Vehicle (RV) used by Walt and Jesse to cook their initial batches of meth. Wildly successful with their “cook,” the scene poignantly chronicles the demise of a central character, i.e. the RV, while filmed to the soulful and romantic lament of the 1961 hit by Los Zafiros, who ironically were also victims to premature demise from toxic feelings associated with the self-destructive forces of chemical dependency.

Wiki/LosZafirosCuba/InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona,Editor

FERNANDO ALBUERNE

Luis Garcell was born on October 28, 1920 in Sagua de Tánamo, Oriente Province, 50 km north of Guantanamo, Cuba, and was better known as young he graduated in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Havana. He began working in the production of for the company Albuerne Soap owned by his father. Even though it lacked musical knowledge was totally enthusiastic about singing, and was consolidating its voice and style at family and among his fellow students. developed from a performer of Cuban songs into one of the great vocal interpreters of Spanish material in general.

http://youtu.be/erZ_nV5eHKE

He performed and recorded throughout the Spanish-speaking world and at times lived in Caracas, Venezuela, as well as Cuba and eventually Tampa, FL. No one who knew Albuerne as a young man would have predicted that he would create stacks of recordings standing as high as sugar cane stalks; in fact, it might have seemed more likely that he would wind up having something to do with growing the sugar cane itself. His degree from Havana University was in agricultural engineering, and following school he went to work in the clean and safe world of soap production. Perhaps he spent more time in the shower than usual, doing quality control research on the soap, and thus had more time to practice his singing.

Early in his twenties, however, Albuerne switched course from the business world to an exclusive contract with Radio Cadena. By the late ’40s he was in demand for performances in theaters and cabarets as well as on television. He began touring Latin America; in 1953, Albuerne triumphed on stages in European capitals such as Madrid, Lisbon, and Paris. Albuerne is near the top of any alphabetical list of Cuban performers who fled the regime of Fidel Castro when the ink was still drying on 1960 calendars.

His subsequent residency in Caracas further sharpened his image as a Latin performer with a global outlook. The Rodven label has released a series of albums under Albuerne’s name, including the both romantic and informative Historia de Amor. Taken as a whole, the Albuerne discography represents a superb collection of Cuban and Mexican songs. He died in Miami in 2000.

Music Guide/Chadbourne/
InternetPhotos/ TheCubanHistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

CELIA CRUZ; ‘The Cuban Queen’

Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums. She was renowned internationally as the “Queen of Salsa” as well as “La Guarachera de Cuba.”

While growing up in Cuba’s diverse 1930s musical climate, Cruz listened to many musicians that later influenced her adult career, such as Paulina Alvarez, Fernando Collazo, Abelardo Barroso, Pablo Quevedo, Arsenio Rodríguez, and Arcaño y sus Maravillas.

In 1950, Cruz made her first major breakthrough, after the lead singer of the Sonora Matancera, a renowned Cuban orchestra, left the group and Cruz was called to fill in. Cruz was hired permanently by the orchestra, but she wasn’t well accepted by the public at first. However, the orchestra stood by their decision, and soon Cruz became famous throughout Cuba. During the 15 years she was a member, the band traveled all over Latin America, becoming known as “Café Con Leche” (coffee with milk). Cruz became known for her trademark shout “¡Azúcar!” (“Sugar!” in Spanish). The catch phrase started as the punch line for a joke Cruz used to tell frequently at her concerts. Once, she ordered cafe cubano (Cuban coffee) in a restaurant in Miami. The waiter asked her if she’d like sugar, and she replied that, since he was Cuban, he should know that you can’t drink Cuban coffee without it! After having told the joke so many times, Cruz eventually dropped the joke and greeted her audience at the start of her appearances with the punch line alone.

In her later years, she would use the punch line a few times, to later say: “No les digo más ‘Azúcar’, pa’ que no les dé diabetes!” which means “I won’t say ‘Sugar’ anymore so that you won’t get diabetes”.

With Fidel Castro assuming control of Cuba in 1959, Cruz and her husband, Pedro Knight, refused to return to their homeland and became citizens of the United States.

In 1966, Cruz and Tito Puente began an association that would lead to eight albums for Tico Records. The albums were not as successful as expected. However, Puente and Cruz later joined the Vaya Records label. There, she joined accomplished pianist Larry Harlow and was soon headlining a concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Cruz’s 1974 album with Johnny Pacheco, Celia y Johnny, was very successful, and Cruz soon found herself in a group named the Fania All-Stars, which was an ensemble of salsa musicians from every orchestra signed by the Fania label (owner of Vaya Records). With the Fania All-Stars, Cruz had the opportunity of visiting England, France, Zaire (Today’s DR Congo), and to return to tour Latin America; her performance in Zaire is included in the film Soul Power.

During the 1980s, Cruz made many tours in Latin America and Europe, doing multiple concerts and television shows wherever she went, and singing both with younger stars and stars of her own era. She began a crossover of sorts, when she participated in the 1988 Hollywood production of Salsa, alongside Robby Draco Rosa.
In 1990, Cruz won a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Performance – Ray Barretto & – Ritmo en el Corazon. She later recorded an anniversary album with la Sonora Matancera. In 1992, she starred with Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas in the film The Mambo Kings.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded Cruz the National Medal of Arts. In 2001, she recorded a new album, on which Johnny Pacheco was one of the producers.

On July 16, 2002, Cruz performed to a full house at the free outdoor performing arts festival Central Park SummerStage in New York City. During the performance she sang, “Bemba Colora.” A live recording of this song was subsequently made available in 2005 on a commemorative CD honoring the festival’s then 20 year history entitled, “Central Park SummerStage: Live from the Heart of the City.”

On July 16, 2003, Cruz died of a cancerous brain tumor at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey. She was survived by her husband Pedro Knight, who died February 3, 2007.

After her death in New Jersey, her body was taken to Miami to lie in state in downtown Miami’s Freedom Tower, where more than 200,000 of her South Florida fans paid their final respects. Her body was returned to New Jersey where tens of thousands of fans paid tribute to her at the funeral home. A service was held for her in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. She was interred in a private mausoleum at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx; an epilogue in her autobiography notes that, in accordance with her wishes, Cuban soil that she had saved from a visit to Guantánamo Bay was used in her entombment.

In February 2004, Cruz’s latest album, Regalo del Alma, won a posthumous award at the Premios Lo Nuestro for best Salsa release of the year. It was announced in December 2005 that a musical called “Assuca” would open in Tenerife before touring the world. The name comes from Cruz’s well-known catch phrase of “¡Azúcar!”

http://youtu.be/bHirXDxpXq8

On June 4, 2004, the heavily-Cuban-American community of Union City, New Jersey heralded its annual Cuban Day Parade by dedicating its new Park (also known as Plaza), which features a sidewalk star in her honor, at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue, with Cruz’s widower, Pedro Knight, present. There are four other similar dedications to Cruz around he world.

On May 18, 2005, the National Museum of American History, administered by the Smithsonian Institution and located in Washington, D.C., opened “¡Azúcar!”, an
exhibit celebrating the life and music of . The exhibit highlights important moments in Cruz’s life and career through photographs, personal documents, costumes, videos, and music.

On September 26, 2007, through May 25, 2008, Celia, a musical based on the life of , played at the off-Broadway venue, New World Stages. Some performances were in Spanish and some in English. The show won four 2008 HOLA awards from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.

Sources: Wiki/CubaPerf./InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

LUIS MARIANO CARBONELL

Luís Mariano Carbonell Pullés was born in Santiago de Cuba on the day of Santa Ana, July 26, 1923. How much do the Cuban music and poetry owes to this remarkable man? This is not a rhetorical question, your answer is in his biography, his life devoted to the arts extensively in who has distinguished himself by his own talents and gifts, but also by two essential virtues:tenacity and generosity. Tough, high rigor because it studies the texts you have to declaim, and many others not declaim, but that serve to better understand the poet whose work focuses its efforts. Tough, because he could ride out and survive bad times for Cuban art, for art of the people, his people, who has never left out of this most beloved artists. Tough, because neither the disease were able to defeat the silence, he emerged in his quality as a great interpreter, with fine sensitivity, always gift to the popular art but never vulgar. Generosity, because Luis Carbonell has been a teacher for at least three generations of Cubans, a director for numerous artists, an adviser, he never refused to offer his assessment, his point of view.

For Cuban poetry, no doubt that he filled the twentieth century as the best interpreter of the records of the “black poetry,” “Afro-Cuban” or “mulatto”, or for print or verbal caricature, in which it grows and grows even some texts without his voice of great juggler, would sleep inside the lid closed books rarely visited. Its virtue is to find the lyrical and expressive jewel where others can not see, and put into his art. He is an artist mixing creative, active, typical not only of Cuban identity, but identity convergence Caribbean. Carbonell was able to identify some of the basic elements of our nation, he became an artist of that identity and his voice was identified, immediately, from the late 40’s, one of the essential voices of becoming Cuba. His talent as an actor in theater exercised sole proprietorship, is manifest in his meticulous interpretation of works of numerous poets (Guillén, Tallet, Ballagas, Pedroso, Loynaz, Acosta, the Spanish Steps and Garcia Lorca, the Pales Matos Puerto Rican, Venezuelan Aquiles Nazoa, Jose Antonio Alix, the versatile Arturo Liendo and so on), and position it as a unique case in our artistic tradition, not because there have been other orators, not because there has been (very good) music directors or consultants, but because it itself is a singularity of the best artistic creations.

If we had the Rita Montaner ‘La Única’, Luis Carbonell is indeed the ‘Únique’, alone in his personal grace and reign. He made ​​a lifetime out war against the vulgarity, the mockery that cuts, populism infamous, and restrained good taste has been able to discover where the popular is legitimate art, when the values ​​generated by poets and musicians from the Cuban people , have risen from the root to a legitimate national universality. The people do not need many CD’s to find out who he is, what he has done, how much to thank you and how he has made ​​us enjoy, but quickly remember at least one memorable album recorded in 1956 with the exceptional diva Esther Borja, numerous shows filled Cuban television brilliance of the 50’s, his advice for bands such as Orlando de la Rosa, the D’Aida, the King Quartet, the Trio Antillano, The Reeds, recorded over 60 albums, you should remember his presentations in “El Cabaret Regalias”, among others when Waldo Gonzalez Lopez qualified in Bohemia (October 17, 2003) as “genuine poetic gem-label”, published in Cuba and Dominican sponsorship: “The mulatto, Ñáñigos to Heaven and Other Poems”, in which the teacher, at the gates of his 80 years, declaims 23 poems for nearly an hour.

His life has been, is useful and valuable, it enriches your company here and now forward with us, with a firmness worthy of the nation of which it forms part. If honor, Luis Carbonell is every day of his honorable life, so that everyone is a good day to express our pride in him. “Espabílate, Mariana, you’re not going to marry” the verse says that he became really famous, and calling him a middle name Mariano, much Hustler us because “we are going to be” for ever as one of the Cuban favorites of all time.

Sources: Wiki/LuisMCarbonellLife/Internetphoto/youtube
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

GLORIA ESTEFAN (I)

Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan (born September 1, 1957) is a Cuban American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the “Queen Of Latin Pop”, she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those in the United States alone. She has won seven Grammy Awards, and is the most successful crossover performer in Latin music to date.

Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo was born September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba, to Jose and Gloria Fajardo. Her maternal grandfather, Leonardo Garcia, immigrated to Cuba from Pola de Siero, Asturias, Spain, where he married Gloria’s maternal grandmother, originally from Logroño, Spain. Prior to the Cuban Revolution, her father was a Cuban soldier and a bodyguard to Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The Fajardo family fled to Lafayette, Indiana as a result of the Cuban Revolution, eventually settling down in Miami, Florida. Shortly after they moved to the United States, Gloria’s father joined the US military and fought in the Vietnam War, also having participated in the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. Gloria attended St. Michael-Archangel School and Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami. Her father became ill after returning from Vietnam and Gloria helped her mother, Gloria Fajardo, care for him. Her mother worked hard as a school teacher for the Dade County Public School system. Gloria Estefan graduated from college in 1979 with a B.A. in psychology, with a minor in French, from the University of Miami. When she was studying at the university, she worked as an English/Spanish/French translator at Miami International Airport Customs Department and, because of her language abilities, was once approached by the CIA as a possible employee. Estefan was raised Catholic.

Marriage

Gloria became romantically involved with the ‘s band leader, Emilio Estefan, in 1976. She and Emilio married on September 2, 1978.They have a son, Nayib (born September 2, 1980) and a daughter, Emily Marie (born December 5, 1994). The family lives in the Star Island section of Miami Beach, Florida.

Career in singing

Starting in 1977, the ,the same band as the Miami Latin Boys, with Gloria Estefan began recording and releasing various albums, 45s, and 12″s on the Audiofon Records label in Miami. The first album from 1977 was entitled Live Again Renacer and was released with two different covers. After several more releases on the Audiofon label as well as the RCA Victor label and ‘s own label MSM Records, the band was signed to Discos CBS International and released several albums, 45s, and 12″s beginning with 1980s self-titled album . Growing in popularity in both the United States and around the world, the group would continue recording and issuing various works for Discos CBS International through 1985. In 1984, released their first Epic/Columbia album, Eyes of Innocence, which contained the dance hit “Dr. Beat” as well as the ballad “I Need Your Love”. Their more successful follow-up album Primitive Love was released in 1985 launching three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Conga” (U.S. #10), “Words Get In The Way” (U.S. #5), and “Bad Boy” (U.S. #8) became follow up hits in the U.S. and around the world. “Words Get in the Way” reached #1 on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, establishing that the group could perform pop ballads as successfully as dance tunes. The song “Hot Summer Nights” was also released that year and was part of the film Top Gun.

http://youtu.be/C7tU7Q9HM6w

GLORIA ESTEFAN (II)

Gloria Estefan Music Career

Their next album, 1987’s Let It Loose, went multi-platinum, with six million copies sold in the US. It featured the following hits: “Anything for You” (#1 Hot 100), “1-2-3” (#3 Hot 100), “Betcha Say That” (#36 Hot 100), “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” (#5 Hot 100), and “Can’t Stay Away From You” (#6 Hot 100). “Can’t Stay Away From You”, “Anything for You” and “1-2-3” were all #1 Adult Contemporary hits as well.

In 1988, Estefan took top billing and the band’s name changed to Gloria Estefan and . Beginning in 1989, the group’s name was dropped altogether. Estefan was credited as a solo artist, though the ever-changing line-up of continues as her backing band to this day.
In 1988, after the worldwide chart success of single “Anything for You”, her Let it Loose album was repackaged as Anything for You. It became the band’s first UK #1 album, selling over a million copies. It was the biggest selling album of the year in The Netherlands, staying at #1 for 22 weeks. The album also took top honors in Australia and Canada, launching Estefan to superstar status.

1990: Cuts Both Ways, tour bus accident and surgery

In late 1989, she released her best-selling album to date, Cuts Both Ways. The album included the hit singles “Don’t Wanna Lose You” (a Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit), “Oye mi Canto (Hear my Voice)”, “Here We Are”, “Cuts Both Ways” (#1 on the U.S. Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart) and “Get on Your Feet”.

While touring in support of Cuts Both Ways on March 20, 1990, near Scranton, Pennsylvania, Estefan was critically injured, suffering a fractured spine when a speeding semi-truck crashed into the tour bus she was in during a snowstorm. She was taken to Community Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit and the next day was flown by helicopter to New York City, where surgeons at the Hospital for Joint Diseases at NYU Langone Medical Center permanently implanted two titanium rods to stabilize her vertebral column. Her rehabilitation required almost a year of intensive physical therapy by Michael Klepper, but she achieved a complete recovery. She returned to an international tour ten months after the accident.

1991–1992: Into The Light and The Greatest Hits

Estefan returned to the charts with a concept album, Into the Light, in 1991. She performed “Coming Out of the Dark” for the first time on the American Music Awards in January 1991, receiving a standing ovation as she took the stage. “Coming Out of the Dark” reached #1 in the U.S. as a single a few months later. Other popular singles were “Seal Our Fate” and “Live for Loving You”. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard album chart, becoming her highest debut; it also peaked at number two on the British albums chart. Eventually the album went platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. The Into the Light World Tour covered 100 cities in five countries and was seen by more than 10 million people worldwide.

She followed up Into the Light with her first greatest-hits album, Gloria Estefan Greatest Hits. It was released in 1992, and included the U.S. hit ballads “Always Tomorrow” and “I See Your Smile” along with the international hit dance track “Go Away”. Also in 1992, Estefan sang backup on fellow Cuban-American singer-songwriter Jon Secada’s breakthrough single “Just Another Day”. She spent much of 1992 in Miami, helping relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Andrew.

1993: Mi Tierra and Christmas Through Your Eyes

In 1993, Estefan released the album Mi Tierra, her first Spanish-language album. It peaked at number twenty-seven on the Billboard album chart and number eleven on the British album chart. The singles “Mi Tierra” and the romantic-tropical ballad “Con Los Años Que Me Quedan” and “Mi Buen Amor”, climbed to number-one on the “Hot Latin Tracks” chart in the United States. The album sold over eight million copies worldwide, went multiplatinum in Spain (15X) and platinum in the United States, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Gold in Switzerland and Australia, and won a Grammy Award for “Best Tropical Latin Album”.

That same year, Estefan released her first Christmas album, Christmas Through Your Eyes, the first album from Estefan to not be produced by her husband Emilio Estefan Jr. The collection included the singles “This Christmas” and “Silent Night”.The album went Platinum in the United States.
Also in 1993, Estefan collaborated with Frank Sinatra on his album Duets with the song “Come Rain or Come Shine”.

1994–1995: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me and Abriendo Puertas

GLORIA ESTEFAN (III)

Gloria Estefan Music Carrier

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me, a cover album of some of Estefan’s favorite songs from the 1960s and 1970s, was released in 1994. “Turn the Beat Around”, the first single and a remake of Vicki Sue Robinson’s 1976 discodeg classic, became another international hit, certified gold in the US. It also was used in the Sharon Stone film The Specialist.

1995’s Spanish-language album Abriendo Puertas earned Estefan her second Grammy Award for “Best Tropical Latin Album”. It spun off two #1 dance hits, “Abriendo Puertas” and “Tres Deseos”, and two #1 Latin singles, “Abriendo Puertas” and “Más Allá”.

In January 1995, the performed at the Super Bowl XXIX halftime show, with Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, in a program entitled “Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye”, to promote the upcoming Disney theme park attraction.

1996–1997: Summer Olympics and Destiny

The platinum-selling album Destiny, released in 1996, featured “Reach”, the official theme of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Estefan performed in the Summer Olympics closing ceremony, in front of an audience of two billion people worldwide, during which she performed the songs “Reach” and “You’ll Be Mine (Party Time)”.
On July 18, 1996, Estefan embarked on her Evolution World Tour (her first tour in five years), which covered the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Australia, South Africa and Asia.

1998: Back to dance: gloria!

Estefan rode the wave of the Disco revival in the U.S. during the late 1990s. On June 2, 1998, she released her eighth solo album, (twenty-first overall), gloria!. The album is highly influenced by Disco music, blended with Salsa music percussion and Latin flavour. To promote gloria!, she performed at the famed New York City discoteque Studio 54.

The album peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200. The album reached Gold certification. The single “Oye!” peaked at #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and the Hot Latin Tracks charts. The other major hit single releases were “Don’t Let This Moment End”, which peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Heaven’s What I Feel”, which peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1999: “Music of My Heart”

In 1999, Estefan performed a duet with *NSYNC on the single “Music Of My Heart”, which was featured in a film in which she also appeared, Music of the Heart. The song reached #2 on the Billboard chart and was nominated for an Academy Award. She also released a Latin hit with the Brazilian group So Pra Contrariar called “Santo Santo”, sang with Luciano Pavarotti in Pavarotti and Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo, and released the benefit album A Rosie Christmas..
She also made a couple of sporting event appearances. The first event was a performance with Stevie Wonder at Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami. She also sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at game three of the 2003 World Series in Miami between the Florida Marlins and New York Yankees.

2000s

Greatest Hits Vol. II was released in 2001. It contained hits from 1993 to 2000, as well as three new songs and a remix of her first hit “Conga”, retitled “Y-Tu-Conga”. The song “Out of Nowhere” was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category for Best Dance Recording; another song from the album, “You Can’t Walk Away from Love”, was featured in the film Original Sin.

2003–2004: Unwrapped

In 2003, Estefan released Unwrapped, her first English-language CD in five years. To promote the CD, she toured Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. The video for the single “Hoy”, had been filmed in Machu Picchu, Peru. “Hoy” and “Tu Fotografía” both reached #1 on Billboard’s Latin chart, and “I Wish You” reached the AC top 20.

On July 28, 2004, at the Trump Tower building, in a press conference hosted by Donald Trump, Estefan announced that her then-upcoming tour would be her final one. The Live & Re-Wrapped Tour, was produced by Clear Channel Entertainment. It began in Hidalgo, Texas on July 30, 2004, and played in 26 cities; it featured Estefan’s greatest hits, along with new material from Unwrapped. The final concert of the tour took place in Estefan’s hometown of Miami on the weekend of October 9 and 10, in front of a sold-out crowd, despite having been delayed for two weeks by a hurricane.

2005: Mash-up hit with Mylo and the tributes

GLORIA ESTEFAN (IV)

On April 7, 2005, Estefan participated in “Selena ¡VIVE!”, the tribute concert for Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the “Queen of Tejano”, who was murdered in March 1995 on the brink of her attempt to cross over as an English-language performer. Gloria performed “I Could Fall in Love”, one of Selena’s posthumously released crossover hits. Also that year, Estefan appeared on the soundtrack for the television series Desperate Housewives, singing a song titled “Young Hearts Run Free”.

In late 2005, the club mash-up “Dr. Pressure” was released, which combined Mylo’s Number 19 hit “Drop The Pressure” with the ‘s “Dr. Beat”. It reached #3 on the UK singles chart and #1 on the Australian dance chart, providing Estefan with her first top 40 hit and commercial radio airplay since 1996.

2006: Compilations and the UK promo tour

Gloria Estefan performs at an event to celebrate the United Through Reading program aboard the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), September 14, 2006.

In early 2006, Estefan performed in Los Angeles at a tribute to singer Dionne Warwick. Estefan sang “Walk On By”, one of Warwick’s signature songs.
In October 2006, Sony released a 2-CD compilation The Essential Gloria Estefan, featuring her hits from 1984 to 2003, an made several radio and television appearances to promote The Essential Gloria Estefan including a December 9, 2006 appearance on ITV’s The X Factor.

Estefan also released two additional similar compilation albums that year for other markets. The Very Best of Gloria Estefan was released in Europe and Mexico, and was similar to The Essential Gloria Estefan, but also included as a bonus track “Dr. Pressure”. This compilation was certified GOLD in Ireland. Oye Mi Canto!: Los Grandes Exitos, a collection of her Spanish-language hits was released in Spain. It included a bonus , which included various music videos and television performances.

2008–2009 highlights

In 2008, Gloria appeared during the seventh season of American Idol, in the special charity episode “Idol Gives Back”, performing her song “Get on Your Feet” along with Sheila E.. The performance was recorded and was released at the American iTunes store; the video of the performance reached the number twenty of the store’s Top 100 videos, and the song became the most downloaded. Estefan became the headliner of the new venue of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Her three-day shows were sold out. She then headed to Canada to perform at the Casino Rama. In August, she started her “90 Millas World Tour”. Gloria played concerts in London, Rotterdam, Belfast and Aruba. Gloria performed several concerts in Spain, specifically Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza and Tenerife. Two of these concerts, in Las Ventas, Spain, and Rotterdam, The Netherlands, were free to the public.

Back in the states, Gloria performed a special concert at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to raise funds for the Education of South Florida. Gloria was a headliner for Bette Midler’s “Annual Hulaween Gala” along with other special guests such as Kathy Griffin and a costume contest judged by Michael Kors. The event benefited the New York Restoration Project.

During the Thanksgiving season, Gloria Estefan appeared on Rosie O’ Donnell’s television special Rosie Live! singing a duet with O’Donnell titled “Gonna Eat For Thanksgiving”, an alternate version of “Gonna Eat For Christmas” from on O’Donnell’s album A Rosie Christmas.

In 2009, Estefan announced plans for her “farewell tour” of Latin America and South America. Estefan has explained that this tour is intended to be her last, so that she can spend more time with her daughter Emily. Estefan also completed a 3 night concert series with Carole King entitled “She’s Got a Friend” at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

The tour continued with a concert at Guadalajara in Mexico, as part of a program designed to improve tourism in Mexico, and a series of appearances at music festivals throughout Europe, including headlining at the Summer Pops Music Festival in Liverpool on the July 27, 2009.

This same year, Gloria opened the “In Performance at the White House: Fiesta Latina 2009” with “No Llores”. Also, at the end, Estefan together with Jennifer Lopez, Thalía, Marc Anthony, José Feliciano, made a rendition to her Latin-classic, “Mi Tierra”.

2010s

Gloria started out the new decade with a charity single: in March 2010, it was announced that she and her husband, producer Emilio Estefan Jr., would gather Latin artists to remake Michael Jackson’s song “We Are The World”, but sung in Spanish. The song, written by Estefan and approved by Quincy Jones, has been recorded and called “Somos El Mundo”. It premiered during El Show de Cristina on March 1, 2010 and all the funds went to Haitian relief.

On March 24, 2010, Gloria led a march through the Calle Ocho in Miami to support Cuba’s Las Damas De Blanco (Ladies in White).Estefan did this to make people remember the movement’s Havana march of 2003, where women protested on behalf of 75 victims of Castro’s government.

Closer to the year’s end, Gloria made part of a project for a benefit for the Urban Arts Partnership in New York on its 10th edition, 24 Hours Of Play In Broadway,[32] she made a special role in a play named I Think You’ll Love This One, which was written by a 20-year-old winner of the Montblanc writers project, Elizabeth Cruz Cortes. Her fellow actors were Elijah Wood, Diane Neal and Alicia Witt. Estefan’s performance was praised by critics and by the director of the play.

GLORIA ESTEFAN (V)

2011 Miss Little Havana

Estefan is currently working on a new dance oriented studio album which is set for a 2011 release and is described by Estefan as a project in the vein of her 1998 hit album gloria!. She is collaborating with producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo from The Neptunes.

On April 7, 2011, Estefan made an unannounced appearance at auditions for The X Factor in Miami, and gave encouragement to the 7,500 participants gathered outside the Bank United Center for auditions.

Her new album Miss Little Havana is scheduled to be released in the United States on September 27, 2011, with the physical CD available only at Target.
A song from the album, “Wepa”, was premiered on May 31, 2011, in the American Arena with a special video for Miami Heat, released on YouTube on June 1. It also been reported, that this song will be the lead single of this album, with a digital release programed for July 23, 2011.

In 2011, Estefan was inducted to the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame with Grammy and Emmy award winner Harry Connick Jr.. Both singers performed at a special concert on June 17, 2011, with Thomas Wilkins as their musical conductor. Proceeds for this event benefitted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute education programs.

Career outside of singing

Film and television appearances

Estefan has appeared in two films, Music of the Heart (1999) and For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000). Estefan made a cameo appearance with her husband in Marley & Me in 2008.

Estefan was cast to star as Connie Francis, a U.S. pop singer of the 1950s and early 1960s, in Who’s Sorry Now?, based on Francis’ life. Filming supposedly began in late 2008, according to Parade Magazine (March 23, 2008). Estefan, in an interview with www.allheadlinenews.com, stated the film would be released in 2009. As of December 2009, the film has been dropped as Connie Francis had irreconcilable differences with Estefan over the film’s writer. Francis wanted to hire writer Robert L. Freedman, who had written the Emmy Award winning mini-series Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. Estefan refused to consider him, which according to Francis ended the project collaboration.

Estefan appeared in the ABC television special Elmopalooza, which aired February 20, 1998, in which she sang the song “Mambo, I, I, I”. In April 2004, Estefan appeared on the Fox Broadcasting Company’s program, American Idol as a guest mentor for the contestants’ Latin week.

Books

Estefan has written two children’s books: The Magically Mysterious Adventures of Noelle the Bulldog (2005) and Noelle’s Treasure Tale (2006). The latter book spent a week at #3 on the New York Times Bestseller list for children’s books.

She also collaborated on a cookbook with her husband entitled Estefan Kitchen, which was published in 2008. It contains 60 traditional Cuban recipes.

Other business ventures

The Cardozo hotel on Ocean Drive, in Miami Beach, Florida.

Gloria and Emilio Estefan own a number of business establishments, including seven Cuban-themed restaurants (Bongos Cuban Café). The restaurants are located in Miami; Miami Beach, Downtown Miami, part of the American Arena; Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney in Orlando; Mexico City; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They also own two hotels: the Costa d’Este in Vero Beach which opened in 2008, and The Cardozo in Miami Beach.

Gloria Estefan was appointed to the board of directors for Univision Communications Inc. in 2007, according to Hispanic Market Weekly. The Estefans’ estimated net worth as of 2011 was approximately $700 million, according to an article in People En Espanol magazine.

In June 2009, Gloria Estefan and her husband bought a “very small” ownership stake in the Miami Dolphins.

Awards

Main article: List of awards received by Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan Music Career

In addition to her seven Grammys, Estefan has received a number of other awards. In May 1993, she received the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, which is the highest award that can be given to a naturalized U.S. citizen.[citation needed] She has won the Hispanic Heritage Award, an MTV Video Music Award, two cable television ACE Awards and the 1993 National Music Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year award. The singer is the recipient of the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her husband, Emilio, a world-renowned music impresario, received a star adjacent to his wife’s on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.

Estefan holds an honorary doctoral degree in music from the University of Miami, awarded in 1993. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami. In 2002, Barry University in Miami bestowed upon her an honorary law degree.[citation needed] Along with her husband, Estefan received an honorary doctoral degree in music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2007. She also delivered the commencement address to the 2007 graduating class.
In 2002, she received the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Medallion of Excellence for Community Service. The singer was Musicares Person of the Year in 1994. Gloria also founded the Gloria Estefan Foundation whose goal is to help those with spinal cord injuries.

She has been honored twice by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1992, she served as a public member of the United States Delegation to the 47th General Assembly to the United Nations.

Estefan received the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year award at the Latin Grammy Awards in November 2008 in recognition of her twenty-five year singing career. She is the first female singer to receive this award. She also received a Latin Grammy for “Best Traditional Tropical Album” for 90 Millas, and a Latin Grammy for “Best Tropical Song” for her single, “Píntame De Colores”. This marked the first occasion for Estefan to ever win a Grammy award for a song (either Latin or non-Latin).

On March 12, 2009, Estefan was honored as a BMI Icon at the 16th annual BMI Latin Awards. Her catalog boasts 22 BMI Latin and Pop Awards, along with 11 BMI Million-Air Awards.

In April 2010, Estefan and her husband received a star in the “Walk Of Stars” in Las Vegas for their contribution to music industry. On April 28, 2011, at the Latin Billboard Awards, Estefan was honored with the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for her philanthropic work.

Sources: Wiki/GloriaE./InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
Gloria Estefan, Singer, Actriz
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

ROSITA FORNES

Rosita Fornés was born in New York, USA, on February 11, 1923. She was taken to Cuba by her Catalonian-born parents when she was 2. Her true name is Rosalia Palet Bonavia. Fornes became her artistic name at the age of fifteen at the request of her step-father, who helped raise her from the age of 2. Fornes first won critical acclaim as a singer after winning the best prize at a widely-known Cuban talent contest in 1938 (La Corte Suprema del Arte -The Supreme Court of the Arts-).

From this moment on she became Cuba’s most prolific, admired and maligned performer. She has been, throughout her brilliantly long career, the center of personal and political controversies. Her visit to the US in May to September of 1996, for instance, generated in Miami the largest and most politically heated press coverage that any performer (foreign of national) had produced ever in this city. She was, in her younger years and well into her sixties, regarded as a sex symbol, as the unchallenged blonde goddess of Cuban show business, although her true weapons in this field have been her spell-binding stage presence, her unbending professionalism and a beautifully melodious singing voice (her stage repertoire has included numerous full-length operettas and opera arias).

In her twenties, already famous in Cuba, she traveled to Mexico where she became an overnight and lasting sensation. To this day, Rosita Fornes is received in Mexico as La Primera Vedette de America (The First Show-Woman of the Americas). In the fourties and fifties she toured extensively throughout Latin America, the US and Europe. In the latter part of the 1950’s she became Spain’s most popular stage diva, rivaling Spanish stars such as Celia Gamez and the younger Sarita Montiel. In Cuba, her sold-out theather performances and countless TV appearances have made Ms. Fornes this country’s top female superstar. Rosita Fornes has received numerous artistic awards in Cuba and abroad. She declares herself apolitical and a devout Catholic, and has remained in Cuba despite the Revolution of 1959.

She is a warm, witty, caring and very refined woman who, at the peak of the AIDS crisis in Cuba (when AIDS sufferes where forcibly isolated into a state-run health institution), would visit the sick and perform for them freely. In several occassions, she has regarded her film career as an “accident”, and has declared in no uncertain terms that she deplores her earlier filmography, which she considers too flawed and commercial. Her first husband was Mexican actor Manuel Medel with whom she had her only child, a daughter by the name of Rosa Maria Medel, also an actress. Her second husband, a very handsome and popular Cuban actor by the name of Armando Bianchi, died in 1981 in a drowning accident after twenty-eight years of marriage. Rosita Fornes’ name is associated throughout the Hispanic world with other great Latin names of the period: Jorge Negrete, Emilio Tuero, Libertad Lamarque, Antonio Aguilar, Maria Victoria, Dolores del Rio, Maria Felix, Agustin Lara, , Adolfo Guzman, Mario Moreno (Cantinflas)-with whom, she confessed in 1996, she had a long-running and passionate love affair).

No longer exploited as a sex symbol, Rosita Fornes remains today (Nov. of 1997), an active, commanding and venerated presence in the Cuban stage scene. She still gets top biling and she still sings at the closing of every important variety show that takes place in the Island (no one would even think of leaving the until La Fornes sings). Always considered to be the non plus ultra of glamour in Cuba’s artistic circles, it is not uncommon (to this day) to watch people “ohand ah!” at the sight of a stunningly dress and graciously poised Rosita Fornes making her way through the crowds in a party or taking center stage.

She has recently finished a series of concerts in Havana (July, 1997), starred in a comedy play (Nenufares en el techo del mundo), and was part of the international jury at the International Film Festival in Bahia, Brazil (Oct. 1997). She takes care of her elderly mother, Lupe (a delighful, lovely lady whose strong character explains this trait in Rosita’s triumph versus adversity). Asked, invariably, whether age worries her, her response is always the same: “Age is a state of mind”. And she has proven it.

Sources: Pedro F. Baez/Comet/TheCubanHistory/YouTube
The Cuban History, Hollywood.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor

ROLANDO LA SERIE

Rolando La Serie, one of the great Cuban singers of his time.

Mr. La Serie had a big, open voice, slightly hoarse and aggressive. Although some of his biggest hits were ballads, his up-tempo singing
was a marvel of improvisation and sound. His attack and his enthusiasm earned him the nickname ”El Guapo de la Cancion,” which in Cuban slang translates as valiant or bold singer.

Mr. La Serie, from Santa Clara in Cuba, started out as a percussionist — he was one of the original members of Beny More’s group — whose singing was seen as a bit of an embarrassment. But in 1956 he had the opportunity to record a ballad by Mario Fernandez Porta called ”Mentiras Tuyas,” which he transformed with his distinctively hard sound. The composer of the song objected to Mr. La Serie’s interpretation, but the record sold 30,000 copies in the first few days after its release.

Rolando La Serie died in Coral Gables, Florida, Estados Unidos, 22 de noviembre de 1998

Sources: R.LaSerie/Wiki/InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
The Cuban History, Hollywoo.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor