Celia Cruz's unreleased live recording to celebrate her 100th anniversary
After almost four decades in oblivion, a cassette with a previously unreleased recording of a concert by the "Queen of Salsa" in 1986 has been rescued and remastered to commemorate the centennial of her birth. The discovery will be released as Live: 100 Years of Sugarand will be released by Loud and Live Studios and distributed by the independent company InnerCat.
Albertico Rodríguez, a Miami radio broadcaster, treasured this gem: a tape recording of a live Celia Cruz show at the Casanova Club in Miami. According to what was written on the tape, the concert had been in 1986 or 1987. Rodriguez, who served as master of ceremonies at countless Cruz performances, recorded that concert for his personal archive, but the tape was forgotten for nearly 40 years.
Now, almost 21 years after Cruz's death at age 77, this unreleased material has come into the hands of his former manager Omer Pardillo Cid and Nelson Albareda, owner of Loud and Live Studios, the company that manages his artistic estate.
As stated in Billboard in SpanishOn May 24, the recording-turned-album will be distributed digitally and on vinyl; it will also feature a limited collector's edition that will include a photo book, and additional exclusive photos of Cruz that can be framed. The nine-track album will include Quimbaraone of Cruz's most iconic songs, as the lead single. The work will be only the second live recording of the legendary artist released since her death. The restoration and remastering process, under Albareda's own direction, took nearly a year to complete.
When Cruz died of cancer on July 16, 2003, she was an undisputed icon, not only one of the most important artists in the history of Latin music, but perhaps the most revered Afro-Latin artist of all time. Since her death, Cruz's legacy has been carefully preserved by Pardillo Cid, her former manager, who was named executor of her estate before her death.
"One of the great treasures of my life was accompanying Celia for so many years as her representative, but even more importantly, as her personal friend," Pardillo Cid says today. "In 2003, when she passed away, I made it my mission to defend the legacy of this unrepeatable woman for the rest of my life so that the brilliant work she left us would not be forgotten with time. This project, the first to be launched commemorating her centenary, is one more example that Celia is immortal."
Beyond being an extraordinary recording, 100 Years of Sugar is a unique production because it captured Cruz performing in a relatively small venue (for about 1,000 people) and he is heard interacting with his fans in an up close and personal way.
"Her naturalness, her jokes, is something you don't usually see in a live recording. Here you capture the essence of the most personal Celia," says Pardillo Cid. In addition, "there is no original recording left; the audience is going to hear something different from Celia, and that's why we thought it was perfect for the centenary.
"The recording really conveys and reminds us of the energy and sheer power Celia had on stage. Through this release, we seek to continue to celebrate Celia's power, global influence and legacy, and the impact she had through her live performances around the world."
