Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo

World Circuit has produced albums of the other Buena Vista stars Rubén González and Ibrahim Ferrer. Now it is the turn of the only female star of the Buena Vista Social Club album and film, Omara Portuondo.

Variously tagged the Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday of Cuba, her album takes as its theme unrequited love—love lost and found. Her sonorous and expressive voice is set against a large soundscape provided by the Cuban arranger Demetrio Muñiz, director of Havana’s famous Tropicana cabaret. Muñiz has introduced a rich and varied accompaniment to the recordings, including lush string sections, Compay Segundo’s clarinet group, traditional Septeto style, '50s style jazz big band, and a string quartet; amongst other unusual combinations. The resulting sound could only have been made in Cuba.

Omara has recorded with a dream backing band, which includes the Buena Vista musicians Rubén González (piano), Orlando "Cachaíto" Lopez (bass), Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal (trumpet), Jesus "Aguaje" Ramos (trombone), and Amadito Valdés (timbales). There are also guest appearances from Eliades Ochoa, Compay Segundo, and Manuel Galbán (guitars) and the great Ibrahim Ferrer on vocals.

Recorded in Havana by Jerry Boys, who engineered the original World Circuit / Nonesuch Buena Vista, Ibrahim Ferrer, and Rubén González albums, the album retains the distinctive Social Club sound—resonant and evocative of the heyday of the big band era.