Friday, 30 September 2011 14:36
Elena Burke, considered one of best alto voices of Latin American music.
The Cuban song has had memorable performers, one of them being Elena Burke.
Born in Havana in 1928, she began her career in a game show called, The Supreme Court of Art, and was in various radio spots before joining the group "Las Mulatas de Fuego," (The Fire Mulatas) in 1947. Soon after, she joined quartets Facundo Rivero, Orlando de La Rosa and Las de Aida, which gave her full training to explode later a a soloist.
With a powerful voice and a serious tone, she's considered one of best alto voices of Latin American music. Along with Omara Portuondo, César Portillo de La Luz, José Antonio Méndez, Moraima Secada, Ángel Díaz and others, she formed the movement of "Feeling," developed in live shows and bohemian meetings held at the mythical "Callejón de Hamel," one of Havana's most recurrent places.
She covered a diverse range of genres such as bolero, balada, song shake and son, providing us with an anthology of recordings such as Aquí de pie (Standing Here) by Olga Navarro, Duele (Pain) by Piloto y Vera, or Me faltabas Tú (I'm missing you) by José Antonio Méndez, among others. Her performance style was permeated with a deep lyricism that was consecrated as "La Señora Sentimiento" (The Lady Feeling), pouring her all into each song, as only she knew how to do. She triumphed on stages in the United States, Mexico, Europe and Venezuela with her Cuban manners and empathy; she was also invited to sing at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
She gave us memorable performances at the "Tropicana," the Amadeo Roldán Theater, Cuba's National Hotels' Parisian Cabaret, the restaurant "Floridita" and other prestigious stages in Havana.
And at the end of her life, a victim of a cruel disease, she continued to delight us with her still seductive voice. She died in Havana in 2002, leaving with the applause of all Cubans, who still remember her, the first chords of the song "De mis recuerdos" (In My Memories).
|
|
