Seven Videos Of The Queen Of Salsa, Celia Cruz

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases seven videos of performances by the Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz. Information about Celia Cruz and these featured songs are also provided in this post.

The content of this post is provided for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

INFORMATION ABOUT CELIA CRUZ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_Cruz
"Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso de la Santísima Trinidad (October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a Cuban-American salsa performer. One of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was renowned internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" as well as "La Guarachera de Cuba."[1]

She spent much of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries. Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban music...

Cruz became known for her trademark shout "¡Azúcar!" ("Sugar!" in Spanish). The catch phrase started as the punch line for a joke Cruz used to tell frequently at her concerts. Once, she ordered cafe cubano (Cuban coffee) in a restaurant in Miami. The waiter asked her if she'd like sugar, and she replied that, since he was Cuban, he should know that you can't drink Cuban coffee without it! After having told the joke so many times, Cruz eventually dropped the joke and greeted her audience at the start of her appearances with the punch line alone. In her later years, she would use the punch line a few times, to later say: "No les digo más 'Azúcar', pa' que no les dé diabetes!" which means "I won't say 'Sugar' anymore so that you won't get diabetes" "...

With Fidel Castro assuming control of Cuba in 1959, Cruz and her husband, Pedro Knight, refused to return to their homeland and became citizens of the United States…
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From http://celiacruz.com/index.php/celia-cruz/biography
"For more than half a century, the Queen of Salsa carried her title with class and distinction. Her powerful voice and electrifying rhythm garnered more than 100 worldwide recognitions, multiple platinum and gold records, three GRAMMY® awards and four Latin GRAMMY® awards, as well as a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Her boundless enthusiasm, genuine warmth, and deep-seated humanitarianism made Celia Cruz the music industry’s most accomplished and revered performer and the world's most notable ambassador of Hispanic culture.

FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: Celia Cruz - Guantanamera



Xxjorgehlxx, Uploaded on Dec 25, 2007
Celia Cruz, "La Reina de la Salsa", interpretando Guantanamera
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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamera
""Guantanamera" (Spanish: "from Guantánamo [feminine]", thus "woman from Guantánamo") is perhaps the best known Cuban song and that country's most noted patriotic song."...

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Example #2: CELIA CRUZ y la sonora matancera



JUAN R, Uploaded on Jan 19, 2011

CELIA CRUZ canta desde la antigua Cuba con el respaldo de la Sonora Matancera. Nelson Pinedo de origen colombiano, fue uno de los mejores cantantes de la Sonora Matancera. Aquí ven ustedes a Pedro Knight en la trompeta (el más alto) antes de que se enamorara de Celia Cruz. Este video es histórico porque la película fue rodada en Cuba con un elenco de grandes artistas internacionales. La chica es Ana Berta Lepe.
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From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora_Matancera
"Sonora Matancera is a Cuban/Afro-Cuban band that played Latin American urban popular dance music. Led for more than five decades by guitarist, vocalist, and composer Rogelio Martínez, who was nicknamed El Gallego, musicologists consider it an icon of this type of music....

The group was founded on January 12, 1924 in Barrio Ojo de Agua, a neighborhood in the city of Matanzas,[4] capital of the province of the same name in west central Cuba.[5] Culturally and demographically, this is the most African region of Cuba...

The band experienced many more changes—in personnel, instrumentation, and musical styles—in their nearly eight decade history. Each change in personnel and instrumentation altered the group's sound."...

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Example #3: Celia Cruz & The Fania All Stars - Quimbara - Zaire, Africa 1974



GravityLimited, Uploaded on Jun 28, 2010

Zaire, Africa 1974
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This song title is sometimes given as "Kimbara".
Click http://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish_to_english/music/1753850-quimbara.html for a comment posted by Richard Cadena (Mexico) about Salsa music in general and about the word "Quimbara". According to that writer, "Quimbara" is a proper name. Also, click http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080816123431AAFw7oU for a comment from Rafael, a Spanish speaker who writes that "Quimbara" isn't a Spanish word, but comes from an African language.

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Example #4: Celia Cruz. La vida es un carnaval (Live).flv



Manu Remon, Uploaded on Nov 16, 2010
querida celia cruz cuanto hace falta tu alegria :/
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The English translation for this song title is "Life Is A Carnival."

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Example #5: Celia Cruz - Oye Como Va



CeliaCruzVEVO, Uploaded on Oct 25, 2009

Music video by Celia Cruz performing Oye Como Va. (C) 2002 Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.
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Here's a comment about the English translation of this song's title:
"Taken out of the context of [Carlos] Santana's song, "¡Oye! ¿Cómo va?" might be interpreted to mean "Hey! How's it going?" But, taken in the context of the surrounding words, it means "Listen how the beat (or rythm)goes. Posted by Moe, Jun 14, 2011 http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/195229/what-does-oye-como-va-mean-in-english

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Example #6: Celia Cruz con la Orquesta de José Alberto "El Canario" - Te busco



liuxiahuai, Uploaded on Aug 8, 2010
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Several online sites translates the title of this song as "I Look For You". Here's a link to one site that provides the Spanish lyrics to this song as well as their English translation: http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/spanish-lyrics-translation/11929-english-translation-of-yo-te-busco.html.

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Example #7: Celia Cruz - Rie Y Llora



CeliaCruzVEVO, Uploaded on Oct 24, 2009

Music video by Celia Cruz performing Rie Y Llora. (C) 2004 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
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The English translation for this title is "Laugh And Cry". Click http://lyricstranslate.com/en/rie-y-llora-laugh-and-cry.html for the Spanish lyrics & their English translation.

RELATED LINKS
One additional video of Celia Cruz can be found on pancocojams at
"Seven Black Female Singers With Blond Hair" http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/03/seven-black-female-singers-with-blond.html and another video of Celia Cruz is included in this pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/black-female-singers-with-red-hair.html "Black Female Singers With Red Hair"

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Celia Cruz for her music legacy. Thanks also to the composers of these song and to those who provided the information which I have quoted about Celia Cruz and these featured songs. My thanks also to the uploaders of these sound files and videos.

Also, thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome