Omara & Chucho (Limited edition with DVD)

CD + DVD Omara & Chucho (Limited edition with DVD) Omara Portuondo & Chucho Valdés

"For a long time now we wanted to work together again on a recording, but due to our packed agendas it hasn't been at all easy to find the right moment", Omara Portuondo explains. It is no mean feat to bring together two highly renowned and sought-after musicians like the Cuban songstress and the pianist Chucho Valdés on the same project. On their own merits, these two artists have become a shining example of Cuban music and two of the finest ambassadors of Cuban culture around the world.
"We wanted to work together again…" and this privilege stems from the fact that they already worked together in 1997 when Omara suggested that Chucho should join her in the studio to record the songs that would comprise the album Desafíos, where both artists explored the intimacy of a duo arrangement by recording a handful of Cuban and Latin American classics. Now, like 13 years ago, this new joint venture is chiefly the result of a common desire, the will to continue unravelling the thread of their first joint project – a circumstance that possibly explains their remake of "Si te contara", one of the tunes from the earlier album. However, this new venture was triggered by a studio encounter from two years ago when Chucho accompanied Omara Portuondo on "Nuestro gran amor" for the Cuban singer's most recent solo album Gracias. According to Valdés, this encounter was "a decisive factor in re-launching our venture".
When talking about the influences that appear in the various tracks on the album, Omara states that "in music, all gaps are bridged". This is what the duo seem to want to remind us when a salute to Gershwin or Beethoven (because the singer insists that "the legacy of classical music is also part of the pianist Chucho") paves the way to a bolero, or when Omara performs the songs with the same sentiment as Billie Holiday would and Chucho forms part of this unique tribute to the sound of jazz with the occasional blue note cropping up in a short solo. Omara Portuondo and Chucho Valdés are musicians with an extensive track record, highly seasoned performers who have experienced everything because, as these tracks demonstrate, everything counts. Omara and Chucho are two graceful artists who have prepared this album to share a lifetime they have devoted in all aspects to music or a lifetime devoted to all aspects of music. These two expressions may appear to be distinct but, in essence, they both perfectly describe the gift these artists are bequeathing us.