Cuban Essentials 1 Ibrahim Ferrer Ay, Candela

New York city, USA - The first release of the Cuban Essentials collection is Ay, Candela by Cuban legend Ibrahim Ferrer. Ay, Candela is fully remastered from the original session tapes.

Ibrahim Ferrer is a beloved international singing star, a hero in his homeland of Cuba, a musician whom fate has blessed with many riches: musical, spiritual, material, and otherwise. But while Ferrer is currently enjoying praise and recognition, it wasn't always so.
Born to a poor family in 1927 in San Luis near Santiago, Ferrer's mother died when he was twelve, and he worked as street vendor, carpenter and dock worker to support himself. But with his emergent musical interest, Ferrer began singing with the small bands that performed at local parties and bars. Soon Ferrer was performing with the fifteen-piece Orquesta Chepin-Choven, one of the best orchestras in the city, securing his reputation at the peak of their popularity.

Ferrer's voice, sometimes described by Trova Tradicional experts as "voz de vieja" - which literally translates as "old lady's voice" - was featured in one of Chepin's greatest late-50s hits, "El Platanal de Bartolo." In 1961, Ferrer left San Luis to try his luck in Havana singing with bandleader Pacho Alonso and his Los Bocucos. Ferrer became the focal point for Los Bucucos' mid-60s fame on such Afro-percussion driven carnival tracks as "Mañana Me Voy Pa'Sibanicu," "Nuestra Ruca," "Compositor Confundido," "Apuntate Una Mi Social," and especially, "De Camino A La Vereda" and "Ay, Candela." Ferrer has called these last two songs his faithful "war horses."

Ay, Candela also includes "Una Fuerza Inmensa," the only bolero that Ferrer recorded solo before 1996, and "Santa Cecilia," a fragrant old song culled from the beginning of the 20th century, sung as a duet here with Carlos Querol.

"I am living the dream I had as a young man, although my body is old," Ferrer said upon his return to the spotlight. Ay, Candela shows the singer at the height of his powers.

[Buy Ay Candela].