Me siento como una niña

"Ahora no soy tan niña, pero me siento como una niña."
["I'm not a little girl, but I feel like one."]

Last week, it was all about Celia Cruz. Today, we celebrate the 95th birthday (yesterday) of another beloved Cuban diva Omara Portuondo. The main difference? Señora Portuondo is (happily) still with us!

Although her career as one of Cuba's most popular singers stretches back to the very early 1950s, it's probably for her work with the fabled Buena Vista Social Club for which she is best known - although her solo album from back in 2000 is a cherished part of our extensive music library here at Dolores Delargo Towers.

Here are some examples of her sublime talent, four your delectation:

Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo - Quizas

Omara Portuondo - El Hombre Que Yo Amé [The Man I Love]

Omara Portuondo - La Sitiera

I could listen to her forever.

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Omara Portuondo Peláez! (born 29th October 1930)

---

STOP PRESS:

I just discovered that the great lady has a new album out, featuring duets and collaborations with artists such as Angélique Kidjo... I wonder if HMV will be stocking that one on its shelves? If so, I'm off to buy it!

Ay, no hay que llorar, que la vida es un carnaval - ¡es más bello vivir cantando!

[click to embiggen]

Simply because one can never have too much Celia Cruz...

We had a stupendous time at the Cadogan Hall last night for the centenary Celebration of Celia Cruz, courtesy of a very talented ensemble indeed, Orchestra Mambo International!

Not only are they superb instrumentalists - trombone, baritone sax, trumpets, bongos, drums, güiro, maracas, guitar, piano and vibraphone, the key components of salsa music, all played to perfection - but they had on the bill a trio of utterly wonderful singers: Yuri Moreno, Juanita Euka, and - probably best of all, mainly because he held everything together so well from beginning to end - the band's lead singer Carlos “Pachanga” Peña. 

It was the ladies, however, upon whom the spotlight shone, as they took it in turns to perform as "Celia" on a whole raft of songs from her back catalogue...

... and here's a fine example:

Orchestra Mambo International - La Vida es un Carnaval [centenary Celebration of Celia Cruz, 21 October 2025]

Orchestra Mambo International - La Vida es un Carnaval, part 2 [centenary Celebration of Celia Cruz, 21 October 2025]

We have been to the Cadogan Hall (a crown amongst the riches of Chelsea) many times before, and this is the very first time we have seen the entire audience - of all ages, creeds, colours and class - take to their feet and dance like there was no tomorrow! On a Tuesday night, no less!

¡Azucar!

Celia would have been proud.

["Ay, no hay que llorar, que la vida es un carnaval - ¡es más bello vivir cantando!" = "Ay, there's no need to cry, because life is a carnival - it's more beautiful to live singing!" in English.]

Bim, Bam, Bum, indeed

Back to the office it is, then...

...only today's "birthday boy" Xavier Cugat can save us now!

Xavier Cugat and Lina Romay - Bim, Bam, Bum [Bathing Beauty (Escuela de Sirenas), 1944]

Wish me luck, dear reader.

Brilla, brilla, pequeña estrella

Oh, how we love Mondays. At least the storms seem to be over for the moment, just in time to go back to the office.

To cheer ourselves up, it is to the prodigious Edmundo Ros (whose 114th birthday it would have been last week) we turn on this Tacky Music Monday to provide us with a bit of a wake-up call...

Here he is with frequent collaborator Caterina Valente [RIP] - and a bevy of brilliantly-chosen dance clips from a variety of films and shows [courtesy of Bissenses Swedish Retro Vintage Music and Film Art Production, indeed]:

Edmundo Ros and Caterina Valente - Estrellita Del Sur [Little Southern Star]

Now that's what I call a pick-me-up!

Have a good week, dear reader.

El cariño que te tengo

Sad news last week of the death of another of the founding members of the legendary Cuban band Buena Vista Social Club, trumpeter Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, gives me an opportunity to feature some of the fabulous music that emerged from their triumphal reunion in the '90s (as featured in the 1996 Wim Wenders film documentary), to which he contributed so much:

Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan

Buena Vista Social Club - Dos Gardenias

By sheer coincidence, happier news: it was also the 94th birthday of one of the last survivors of the band (and house favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers), Señorita Omara Portuondo:

Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club featuring Omara Portuondo & Eliades Ochoa - Candela

Perfect "Sunday Music"...

RIP, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal (5th May 1933 – 28th October 2024)

Feliz cumpleaños, Omara Portuondo Peláez! (born 29th October 1930)

The falling leaves drift by the window

Meet Juglans nigra, the eastern American Black Walnut tree. It's particularly stunning in autumn, especially in a country park or arboretum. But where is this one? In the back garden of a terraced house in Wood Green, overshadowing our, and several neighbouring gardens.

Why on earth would we call such a splendid specimen a "bastard weed tree" [an epithet usually reserved for the grubby and dastardly sycamores that overhang the other side of the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers]?

This!

Every year, the chore of clearing all this crap just gets worse...

Sigh. Here's something appropriate - and rather jolly - to take our minds off it:

Latin Jazz Mode - Autumn Leaves

What that boy can do with his carrot and bongos is amazing!

Sai da minha frente, eu quero passar

And so, farewell, Sérgio Mendes - the man who almost single-handedly made the Brazilian "New Wave" sounds of bossa nova into a cool, internationally-successful pop genre in the 1960s - who has packed up his piano, bongos and Cuica and departed for the "Tiki Lounge" in Fabulon. [To be honest, who even knew he was still with us?]

There is only one song to play, really!

Sérgio Mendes and Brasil 66 - Mas Que Nada (introduced by Eartha Kitt)

Mas que nada
Sai da minha frente
Eu quero passar
Pois o samba está animado
O que eu quero é sambar

[which roughly translates as]

Whatever!
Get out of my way
I wanna pass
Because samba is exciting
And I wanna dance [samba]

Descanse em paz, Sérgio Santos Mendes (11th February 1941 – 5th September 2024)

Ay ay caramba!

It may be Monday again - but the countdown to Gay Pride on Saturday has begun!

What better way to kick off on this Tacky Music Monday than with one of our campest Patron Saints [again!] Raffaella Carrà (who would have celebrated her 81st birthday on 18th June), and her Disco Samba medley?

Raffaella Carrà - Disco Samba [Fantastico 3]

Safety gays in pink tights?

How fantabulosa!

Have a good week, dear reader...

Grouches don't dance

Just because we heard him in all his magnificence on Clare Teal's show on Jazz FM earlier, here's someone who's always perfect for what we call "Sunday Music" - the simply marvellous Señor Tito Puente! Even a Grouch can't resist...

Tito Puente visits Sesame Street

Love it.

Smoking cool

Apropos of nothing at all - merely because I hadn't heard it in ages until Clare Teal played it on her Jazz FM show - an old favourite, indeed!

Perfect "Sunday Music"...

Señor Coconut - Smoke on the Water

¿Dónde estás?

Campanula glomerata is one of the stars of the show at the moment [click to embiggen]

This weekend has finally seen the UK "turn the corner", weather-wise, it seems. Two consecutive sunny days spent pottering and enjoying the fruits of our hard labour in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers - June is indeed busting out all over, and we love it!

In keeping with the "Sunday mood", how about a little something from another of our "house bands", Pink Martini?

That'll do nicely...

Pink Martini - Donde Estas Yolanda

¿Dónde estás, dónde estás, Yolanda?
¿Qué pasó, qué pasó, Yolanda?
Te busqué, te busqué, Yolanda
Y no estás, y no estás Yolanda
Y no estás, y no estás Yolanda

Me dicen que paseabas
en un carro Yolanda.
Muy guapa y arrogante
y todos te silbaban.

Si un día te encontrara,
no sé que puedo hacer.
No sé me vuelvo loco
si ya no te vuelvo a ver.
¿Dónde estás, dónde estás, Yolanda?
¿Qué pasó, qué pasó, Yolanda?
Te busqué, te busqué, Yolanda
Y no estás, y no estás Yolanda
Y no estás, y no estás Yolanda

Indeed.

And That's That

Aaaaaargggghh!

I didn't win the Euromillions (again!), so it's back to work for the first time in eleven days, and I am not ready for this.

Only Xavier Cugat (born on New Year's Day) can save us now..!

Xavier Cugat - Yo Te Amo Mucho - And That's That

Indeed.

Have a good week, dear reader. I won't.

Quiet nights of quiet stars

RIP, the Queen of Tropicália, Gal Costa...

Here's just a mere pitada of the lady's fabulous talent - as she revists a classc from her roots in bossa nova:

Gal Costa - Corcovado

Sublime.

Tighten up or shake it loose?

Happy Trafalgar Day!

What a week... Work has been a bitch again, but on Wednesday evening we were treated to a luxurious slap-up meal at London's oldest - and one of its most-renowned - restaurant, Rules! It was splendid, and provided a much-needed compensation for the daily grind.

That "grind" is now teetering to its bitter end - and we need to get the party started!

How about a "meeting of two regular blog features" - Soft Tempo Lounge and Thank Disco It's Friday?!

You think the ladies are good? Wait till the "safety gays" get going..!

Soft Tempo Lounge - Latin Dance

[Music: Al Escobar & His Orchestra - Tighten Up}

Have a great weekend, folks!

I, Toña

As you are well aware, dear reader, there is nothing we at Dolores Delargo Towers love more than to discover a "new" diva to explore.

Here's one whose music popped up out of the blue on our beloved Clare Teal's show in her new home on Jazz FM a few weeks ago - Mexico's finest, Señorita Antonia del Carmen Peregrino Álvarez, known by her stage name Toña la Negra!

And here, for your delectation, are two examples of the great lady's talents:

Toña la Negra - Callejera

Toña la Negra with dancer Rosa Carmiña - Saca La Mano-Mambo

¡Maravilloso!

Perfect sunny "Sunday Music", you will agree.

She would merengue and do the...

Five years ago today I posted a tribute to the ebullient bandleader Billy May on the occasion of his centenary. In his comment on it, my other half Madam Arcati said: "His Cha Cha Cha album is the campest thing ever pressed into vinyl."

So, to celebrate Mr May's 105th anniversary, I thought you might like to judge that bold claim for yourself, dear reader - by listening to the whole album!

Get your spangly frocks out of the wardrobe, and prepare to Cha-Cha...

Billy May - In A Mellow Tone-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Twelfth Street Rag-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Artistry In Rhythm-Cha-Cha

Billy May - The Poor People Of Paris-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Good Bye-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Leap Frog-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Flyin' Home-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Snowfall-Cha-Cha

Billy May - In The Mood-Cha-Cha

Billy May - I Remember-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Tuxedo Junction-Cha-Cha

Billy May - Bijou-Cha-Cha

Whew! I'm knackered now!

Edward William "Billy" May, Jr (10th November 1916 – 22nd January 2004)

Cuba Libre

I'm in a slow, lazy mood today - after a full-on all-day session yesterday in the Wetherspoons in Holborn for my brother-in-law The History Boy's birthday - so I think a trip to pre-revolutionary Havana is in order [I wish!], in the company of one of the island's most celebrated sons Benny Moré!

First, a two-parter featuring Señor Moré's most revered song, segued into another Cuban standard:

Benny Moré - Bonito Y Sabroso/Como Fue

...a sumptuous number set in a nightclub I wish I could have visited:

Benny Moré - Ya Son Las Doce

...and finally, there's this crazy little number:

Benny Moré con Silvestre Mendez - Baila Meche Barba

That's perked me up a bit!

Bartolomé Maximiliano "Benny" Moré on Wikipedia.

The Woman of the End of the World*

Another day, another new "Diva discovery"...

A true survivor in every sense of the word, the remarkable Elza Soares is (rightly) revered in her native Brazil. Across the world she may be less well-known, but she was apparently voted "Singer of the Millennium" in 2000 by the BBC, and she lived in New York in the 1980s, where her friends included none other than Eartha Kitt!

Outlandish and outspoken, even at her venerable age [she claims not to know how old she really is; most sources say she was born in 1937, but Wikipedia lists her as born seven years earlier, which makes her 91 this year!] she's still recording music and fighting - as she has done throughout her seven-decade career - for the rights of women, black people and LGBT people, despite nowadays needing to use a wheelchair.

I reckon she looks like a "Drag Queen Davros", but I'd never say that to her face - she's fearsome! And fabulous...

Elza Soares - Mulher do Fim do Mundo

Elza Soares - A Carne

Elza Soares - O Que Se Cala

Soberba!

More about Elza Soares.

An interview with Elza Soares in The Guardian in November 2020.

[*Mulher do Fim do Mundo = "The Woman of the End of the World" in Portuguese.]

Cloves and mint?*

A glimpse up my back passage.

The promised sunshine never really materialised on this "non-Pride" weekend - it was very intermittent indeed yesterday, and grey and gloomy today - but regardless we were still out there doing some more pottering in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers...

Our thoughts and dreams in such circumstances inevitably turn to exotic music in far-off climes, and fortuitously - thanks, believe it or not, to BBC Radio 3 (primarily the home of classical music on the Beeb) - I have a fab new discovery to share with you, dear reader!

Ayom (for it is they) describe themselves as "a multicultural band, made up of six members from Angola, Brazil, Greece and Italy with Brazilian singer and percussionist Jabu Morales centre stage", and they're fab...

Ayom - Me deixe ser

Ayom - Cravo e menta

Holidays.

Sigh.

---

[*Cravo e menta = "cloves and mint" in Portuguese.]

El Rey de los Timbales

Sharing the occasion with another random clutch of "names" such as the gorgeous Ryan O'Neal (who is 80 today!), Jessica Lange, Leslie Phillips (still with us, aged 97!), Nicholas Lyndhurst ["Rodney" in Only Fools and Horses] (60 today), Lionel Hampton, Edie Sedgwick, Luther Vandross, Andy Serkis, Paul Poiret, Elspeth Ballantyne ["Meg Jackson" in Prisoner Cell Block H], Louise Jameson ["Leela" in Doctor Who] (70 today), George Takei, Paul Usher ["Barry Grant" in Brookside] (also 60 today), Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Harold Lloyd, Joan Miró, Johnny Tillotson and - ahem - Adolf Hitler, it's the birthday today of the sadly-missed Tito Puente!

Any excuse really (especially in this continuing sunshine), to play some gorgeous music from the repertoire of "The King of the Timbales"...

Tito Puente - Five Beat Mambo

Tito Puente - Oye Como Va

Ernesto Antonio "Tito" Puente, Jr. (20th April 1923 – 1st June 2000)