Lagrimas Negras

by Bebo Valdes, Diego el Cigala

Overview

Lagrimas Negras (Black Tears) is a collaborative effort between the octogenarian Cuban piano master Bebo Valdes and the reigning Spanish flamenco cantador, Diego El Cigala. Recorded for Fernando Trueba and Nat Chediak's Calle 54 label, the sessions took place in Madrid between September and December 2002. Maestro Valdes (born in 1918), the father of the jazz pianist Chucho, has a long history as an innovator in Cuban music. He recorded the first Afro-Cuban jazz session in 1952, and was a tutor to the great bandleader Beny More, writing early charts for him. Valdes is also a world-class arranger. Diego El Cigala was born in 1960, and has become the undisputed king of Spain's flamenco singers. This recording features nine tracks that meld together cooking son, jazz, Afro-Caribbean, and flamenco rhythms, in tunes by composers such as Lolita de la Colina, Virgilio and Homero Exposito, Ramon Perello, the grand team of Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, Caetano Veloso (who makes a guest appearance), Maria Teresa Vera, Miguel Matamoros (who composed the title track), and others. Most are Cuban ballads. Guests such as Veloso, Paquito D'Rivera, Pancho Terry, Tata Gueines, and El Nino Josele fall by on different tracks. And while the tunes are top-shelf and the guests make this a very special and historic occasion, it is the unusual dynamic and the integrity with which it is employed that makes this set so unique. Valdes' style is an elegant one; his rhythmic left hand accents rhythms and shifts them effortlessly, adding street and nuance here, space and tension there. Always his notes are sure, precise, and solid. El Cigala's voice is a true cantador's; he wavers, lilts, growls, and gutturally moans; he slips between rhythms and melodies, underscoring first one and then another, using the rhythms to sing counterpoint to the piano's stridency and sheer graceful approach in the ballads, shouting assent and further challenges on the uptempo sons. Together, the combination is its own moving poetry, meeting in the middle of a tradition as old as flamenco's "cante jondo" and as integrated as Cuba's. The sacred and profane dine and drink together and no one will say which is which. All nine songs offer differing emphases on lyric and rhythm, all offer variant harmonic concerns, but they all contain the spirit of the "duende." While there isn't a mediocre second on this album and all of the performances are breathtaking, "Lagrimas Negras" and "Corazon Loco" are clear standouts. This is destined to be a classic, and hopefully a gateway to more experiments like this one. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	06/01/2004
Label:	Bmg International
UPC:	0828765308625
Rank:	135405

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bebo Valdes   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Diego el Cigala   Primary Artist,Vocals,Voices
Milton Cardona   Vocals (Background),Voices
Orlando "Puntilla" Rios   Vocals (Background),Voices
Pedrito Matinez   Vocals (Background)
Pancho Terry   Percussion,Chekere
Javier Colina   Guitar (Bass),Bass,Double Bass
Rickard Valdes   Percussion,Cajon
Israel "Pirana" Porrina   Percussion,Cajon
Caetano Veloso   Vocals,Voices
Tata Gueines   Congas
Pedrito Martinez   Voices
Paquito D'Rivera   Sax (Alto)
Federico Britos   Violin
Changuito   Timbales
Nino Josele   Guitar

Technical Credits

Javier Limon   Audio Production,Engineer,Producer,Assistant Engineer
Fernando Trueba   Audio Production,Producer,Executive Producer
Nat Chediak   Executive Producer,Producer
Milton Cardona   Coro
Miguel Matamoros   Composer
Alan Silverman   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Todd Barkan   Production Coordination
Caetano Veloso   Composer
Antonio Carlos Jobim   Composer
Maria Teresa Vera   Composer
Julio Gutierrez   Composer
Pepe Loeches   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Orlando "Puntilla" Rios   Coro
Virgilio Exposito   Composer,Composer
Juan Mostazo   Composer
Carlos Carcas   Video
Eric Schilling   Engineer
Eric Shilling   Assistant Engineer
Ramon Perello   Composer
Richard Dannemberg   Composer
Homero Exposito   Composer
Enrique Cadicamo   Composer
Derek Kwan   Production Coordination
Vinicius de Moraes   Composer
Lolita de la Colina   Composer
Pedro Martinez   Coro
Juan Carlos Cobian   Composer
Jim Anderson   Engineer,Assistant Engineer