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Spanish language music: Bolero
ABOUT BOLERO
Bolero refers to a musical style that originated in 18th-century Spain,
played at a moderately slow tempo and sung accompanied by castanets
and guitars. Performances of this sentimental, romantic ballad are often
emotional. The Latin American form of the bolero first appeared in Santiago,
Cuba near the end of the 19th century. Its popularity spread throughout
Latin America in the 1940s and 50s and experienced a strong revival
in the 1990s. Unlike the Spanish variant, Cuban-style bolero has African
rhythms at its base.
BOLERO ARTISTS, CDs & AUDIO CLIPS
Buena
Vista Social Club (Cuba)
CD Buena Vista
Social Club [1997] LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Buena Vista Social Club CDs at amazon

Pedro
Infante - "King of the Mexican Bolero" (Mexico):
CD Románticas de Pedro
Infante [1996] LISTEN
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CD REVIEW: Jorge Negrete may have been Mexico's first cinematic
ranchera hero, but perhaps because of his premature death in 1953, Pedro
Infante surpassed him in the number of hit movies and recordings. And
like that of Negrete, Infante's fantastic recording output has been
constantly released in new compilations. This collection has most of
his signature hits, including "Cien Años," a heartbreak
tune about being abandoned, and "Paloma Querida," an old standard
reinvented by Infante when he sings with cool detachment about love's
inspiration. Infante was untrained, his approach was simple but emotive,
yet he was talented enough to make unforgettable such other classics
as Agustin Lara's "Mujer" and "Amor de Mis Amores,"
and the uplifting bolero "Amor a la Distancia." Infante died
in a plane crash in 1957 but is immortalized in his movies and music.
-- Review by Ramiro Burr
CD Boleros de oro [2001]
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CD | CD 60 Boleros de oro
[1990] LISTEN
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CD | CD Las Mañanitas
[2001] LISTEN
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CD | CD Serenata con Pedro
Infante [2003]
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CD | CD Coleccion de oro
[1999]
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CD
Browse or buy Pedro Infante CDs at amazon
Tania
Libertad (Peru / Mexico)
CD Negro
color [2004] LISTEN
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CD REVIEW: Libertad's career began when she was a tot of
5. Perhaps this explains why her voice so often sounds like that of
an older woman, more knowing and worldly wise than her young, lovely
face might lead one to expect. She now resides in Mexico but was born
in Peru, and this album explores the latter country's persistently resurgent,
richly percussive African heritage. Although more pop-flavored and not
so rough-and-ready as some other interpretations, her arrangements make
ample use of the African-derived call-and-response vocals, squeezeboxes
and percussion. But her touch remains deeply personal. She adds a fugitive
taste of honey to a workers' lament and divines the nascent bitterness
curled at the heart of an erotic ballad; a whiff of addictive consolation
rises from a rural potion seller's sales pitch. Brazilian composer/poet
Chico Buarque's "Funeral Del Labrador" is a heartbreaking
ode to humble lives whose ceaseless labor ends in anonymous futility.
-- Review by Christina Roden
CD Costa Negra [2002]
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CD | CD Tomate esta botella
conmigo [1998] LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Tania Libertad CDs at amazon
Luis
Miguel (Mexico)
CD Mis boleros favoritos [2002]
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CD | BOX SET Todos los romances [1998] LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Luis Miguel CDs at amazon
Omara
Portuondo (Cuba)
CD Flor de amor
[2004] LISTEN
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CD | REVIEW: The septuagenarian Cuban singer Omara Portundo is the
lone female crooner of the famed Buena Vista Social Club. But
in the 1940s and '50s, she was the velvet voice of the jazz/bossa nova
inspired genre known as filin. On her second solo CD, which translates
as "Flower of Love," Portundo leads an assembly of Cuban and
Brazilian musicians, featuring her Buena Vista bandmates, singer Ibrahim
Ferrer and bassist Orlando Cachaito Lopez. The Congolese guitar whiz
Papi Oviedo, plays the Cuban tres on "Amor de Mis Amores,"
"Habanera Ven," "Amorosa Guajira," and the title
track. Portundo's poetic pipes sweeten these Latin ballads, from the
afro anthemed "Tabu," to "Casa Color," a new song
penned for her by Brazil's Carlinhos Brown. Sonically seasoned with
strings, woodwinds, guitars, and background vocals, Portundo's "musical
love letters" are postmarked with five decades of Afro-Cuban artistry.
- Review by Eugene Holley, Jr.
CD Buena Vista Social Club
Presents Omara Portuondo [2000] LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Omara Portuondo CDs at amazon
Mercedes
Sosa (Argentina)
CD 30 años [1994]
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CD | CD Mercedes Sosa en
Argentina [1994] LISTEN
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CD | CD Gracias a la vida
[1993] LISTEN
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CD | CD Escondido en mi país
[1996] LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Mercedes Sosa CDs at amazon
Trio
Los Panchos (New York, USA)
CD Recuerdos [1989]
LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Trio Los Panchos CDs at amazon
Pedro
Vargas (Mexico)
CD Lo mejor de lo mejor [2001]
LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Pedro Vargas CDs at amazon
Charlie
Zaa (Columbia):
CD Un segundo
sentimiento [1998] LISTEN
BUY
CD | CD Sentimientos [1996]
LISTEN
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CD | CD Ciego de amor [2000]
LISTEN
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CD | CD De un solo sentimiento
[2001] LISTEN
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CD
Browse or buy Charlie Zaa CDs at amazon
BOLERO COMPILATIONS
CD: 100 Boleros de amor
Various Artists LISTEN
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CD
CD: Lo mejor de lo mejor Various artists
LISTEN BUY
CD
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