A million records have been sold since Cigala & Bebo Valdés revolutionized musical miscegenation with their album “Lagrimas negras” (Black Tears). It was a blend of Caribbean rhythms and Spanish vocals, which is considered today one of the musical events of the century. To celebrate 10 years of the event, this November 18 goes on sale in Spain a deluxe edition of the unforgettable phonogram.
Black Tears. 10th Anniversary Edition is a double CD and double DVD book, accompanied by a booklet with 64 pages, new photos of the recording process, the lyrics and other texts in English and Spanish.
The book includes the Black Tears CD and the CD and DVD version of the live concert White and black, originally recorded in audiovisual format. The package is completed with Bebo cuisine, a documentary that delves into this true partnership, with images collected from the first working session, the day they met, testing and recording the album.
Success of a musical miscegenation
Black Tears, title of the famous bolero by Cuban Miguel Matamoros, played in a a duet by the late Bebo Valdes (Quivicán, Cuba, October 9, 1918 – Stockholm, Sweden, March 22, 2013) at the piano and singer Diego El Cigala , became the new concept of musical miscegenation, never repeated again.
The original album was released in 2003 and is composed of nine classic played by Valdés, El Cigala and other extraordinary musicians. Along them bassist Javier Colina and percussionist Piranha participated, who bring their stamp on almost every song. In the album’s title track also appears saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera and unique percussion by Tata Guines, Pancho Terry and Changuito.
There are also boleros as Inolvidable, Se me olvidó que te olvidé and Corazón loco, popularized at the time by Antonio Machin and recreated in this work with Nino Josele on the guitar.
Caetano Veloso declaims Coraçao vagabundo; Eu sei que vou te amar, which is in charge of Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim . The repertoire includes the song La bien pagá with Cuban choirs , a tribute to Cuban Bola de Nieve and memories to Argentinean Niebla del riachuelo.
Black Tears, Bebo & Cigala was recorded for Fernando Trueba and Nat Chediak’s Calle 54 label, and distributed by Sony. That record amply reflected what late poet Angel Gonzalez said in a text written for the occasion was “an extraordinary amalgam in which the Cuban song sounds like flamenco, and vice versa.”
The tenth anniversary of this exceptional occasion is a good excuse to return to savor the entire album, applauded and rewarded on both sides of the Atlantic. The Ondas was the first award it received among so many, which are: the Golden Microphone, five Amigo, three Music and , in particular, two Grammys and five Latin Grammy nominations . The New York Times also chose it as Best Album of 2003 .
The success of that great duo overcame the boundaries of flamenco and Latin. It is music that has been installed on its own merit forever in the discography of millions of people around the world. Bringing together the pianist and the singer is a project that maintains the validity of the extraordinary, like everything that comes when you put together an immeasurable imagination and musical quality.
For: Yanelis Abreu
