First Listen: Angélique Kidjo, 'Celia'
“Celia Cruz’s music and her entire being was a reminder of the presence of Africa in Cuba. Angélique Kidjo’s Celia musically closes that circle with reverence and more than a little love.”
Celia refers to Celia Cruz, perhaps the most well-known vocalist to come from Cuba during any era. The ten tracks span several decades of Cruz's career, from before she left Cuba in 1960 to her groundbreaking recordings for the celebrated Fania Records label in New York in the 1970s, to "La Vida Es Un Carnaval," the 1998 song that became her late career hit and anthem. Kidjo's reinterpretations rearrange the molecules of songs that many of us know by heart. The results are glorious.