NPR Music - Celebrating the legacy of Celia Cruz

Episode Date: October 16, 2024

To celebrate the release of a new book from NPR Music, How Women Made Music, as well as the 50th anniversary this year of the album Celia & Johnny, Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre walk through their favorite songs by the legendary Celia Cruz, alongside the artist's niece Linda Pritchett. Songs featured in this episode:• Celia Cruz, "Bemba Colorá"• Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, "Yiri Yiri Bon"• Celia Cruz, "La Negra Tiene Tumbao"• Celia Cruz, "Quimbara"• Celia Cruz, "Cuando Salí de Cuba"• Celia Cruz, "La vida es un carnaval"Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Simon Rentner. Editorial support from Hazel Cills. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

From NPR music, this is all Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Let the Chisme begin. Okay, the Chisme this week is celebration. We got three things to celebrate. Oh, my God. Three whole things, Felix? Yes, okay, check it out.

We're celebrating the publication of a book by NPR Music called How Women Made Music. Oh, I love this book. It's all about how women are actually the people making these huge contributions. Exactly. And we're also celebrating the 50th anniversary of seven. Celia and Johnny, a Fania Records album that was so influential that it still reverberates today. Absolutely love that record. And we're also celebrating the 60th anniversary of Fania Records.

And that is such an important anniversary. We've been trying to figure out just how to celebrate because it matters so much. We have one voice this week that pulls all three of those together, and that voice belongs to... La Reina herself, Celia Cruz. No, we didn't bring Celia on the show. But we have her niece, the amazing, incredible, wonderful Linda Pritchett, speaking to us from South Fulton, Georgia. Linda, welcome to Alt Latino.

Hey, good morning. Thank you. Buenos dejas, everybody. So we met recently, Linda, because we did a panel for the Smithsonian celebrating your Tia. And I was, like, feeling so privileged. I got to sit with you backstage for, I don't know how long, and get the most amazing Celia stories. You're like an incredible encyclopedia.

And so I figured we had to share it. I had held onto the stories long enough, and we needed you to come in and share it with the group. So Linda, let's start with you. What is the first song you brought in? So my all-time favorite of forever and ever will always be Bamba Colora. That song is probably older than me,

but it's a song that I've known since I was a kid. As a kid, we just sang along. You know, Bamba Kolodah, it has so many different rhythms to it. It's a festive song. Every concert that I went to as a child, I never just sat there and watched people watching her. People got up and danced, and people are singing. Everybody knows the words.

It's like a block party at her concert. When I was a kid, I used to travel with her, and this was always the last song. You knew that the show is over. When Ben Bacola-Ras comes on, that's the closer. I would like to move on to the next song. And it's kind of an obscure track. It's from an album that came out, I think it was 1978.

It's by Tito Puente, and it has the Fania All-Stars singers on it. It's a tribute to Benny Moree, the volume one that came out. And it's a song called Yidi Yidivone. And I've always loved it because as soon as it starts, you hear the glory of her instrument, of her voice. We're going to play it right now, and I know I'm going to get chills again. Check it out.

This is Yiri Yidi Yibon from Tito Puente, featuring Celia Cruz. Wow! It's like when she enters the room, like, you know, drop the mic or pick up the mic. Her voice was like an entrance, almost like a lion's roar, like, hey, we are here. Yeah. Last weekend, I had a concert here in Georgia where I am, in South Fulton, Georgia, where I serve as a city council member.

During Hispanic Heritage History Month, I felt it's important that the people in my city understand my culture, and the music. So we had a concert called Asuka Music Fest. And this year was the second time we did it. And Tito Puente Jr. was our showstopper. It's really so sweet because we've known each other all our lives and our parents known each other before we became alive. Tito Puente, the dad, his band played for my mother's wedding. And so now that both of them, are gone, he is keeping his dad's memory alive with Tito Puente, I believe, turned 100, I think it's this year, and Celia Cruz will be 100 next year. But he's performing. I don't perform, but I keep her memory alive by commemorating her with putting on these type of concerts or

these type of activities. So I'm really excited to still be connected with Tito, and both of us are keeping her and Tito's legacies alive. I was only fortunate to see Celia Cruz perform once, and it was with Tito's band. His orchestra was just so magnificent, and her in front of that band was just, I'll never forget, it was really one of the most exciting and personal musical experiences I've ever had.

They were able to perform together, I really can say, for about, like, 60 years. you know, not really say on and off because there were other artists that she performed with other bands. But for about 50, 60 years, even from when she left Cuba going to Mexico, they performed together and they were like a dynamic duo. I remember traveling with them on some Budweiser fest in Europe and people loved them. And the thing with the, the person Perfect combination, which actually that is a record that she had, but it was with Johnny Pacheco. But her and Tito were a perfect combination as well because Tito has a particular energy with the timbalist.

And it was like the drumsticks were an extension of his hands. And he was so extra. He was such a perfectionist with it. And just the two of them, it was like thunder and lightning. and it's just like the perfect show. I go on YouTube sometimes and I'll pull up like say Kimbara or Bembacolora and Tito's right there. So, you know, I do watch YouTube videos of them

to just remember how they were. You know, not just to hear the music, but to see them. And they worked so well together. And that's something that's hard to find. You know, people that for 50 years can work together love each other and bring everybody so much joy is uh that's kind of historic from everything you described to me how much family meant to her and community meant to her and having all these people who were like family around i mean creating relationships like that makes sense

absolutely and and the thing was that for celia and my family um because she was not able to return to Cuba, I had a lot of aunts that I would call Tia, Tia Meri, Tia Bruja, Tia Soila. A lot of her friends automatically became my aunts because I didn't have my own aunt who was in Cuba, who was trapped in Cuba, Tia Nina, which was their older sister. So these people became our family. And Tito kind of became Selya family. Johnny Pacheco, Oscar De Leon, a Pira Condez Rodriguez, many people that we shared the same culture,

they created a same music, meaning one genre that so many different countries were involved in. So you had Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Dominican. So you had just, you never see anything like that, like globally where all these countries come to, together and create this music.

Anna, you brought in a track. What did you bring in? Oh, this was the hardest task in the world, Linda. To pick two of your aunt songs is just insane. But I ended up going with La Negra Tiena Tumbao. It gets me moving in such a way I love it. This song for so many reasons, one, because obviously it is like peak, danceable, amazing, so late in her career, which, one,

One, she kept going for so long, doing so much. But two, the ownership of who she was. And we've talked about this. Felix, you and I have talked about this. Linda, you and I've talked about this. The importance of her being a black woman who was so proud of her energy and her persona and was so authentic in how she showed up in that way. I mean, was that something you watched a lot growing up, Linda?

Oh, absolutely. She had a style that I think just important. proved or just got more flagrant as she got older. So people do know that she wore wigs. When I was younger, she would wear her hair kind of in a conservative like bun. But then in the, I think it was the 70s, when the braids came out, we tried that. Then other hairstyles. But then by the time that she was right before she died, the last five years,

of her life, now she's wearing these explosive colors, orange, blue, green, you name it. And she was explosive like that. And she was authentic to her style. She had a particular style. She was very, very flashy in a sense. Publicly, she loved wearing her fur coats besides the fact that it was cold in New York. But she liked fancy, flashy things because it was. was to her, it's a celebration of life. Everything was being grateful to be in this country. She loved

being recognized as American being an African, Cuban woman that's in America and could just be her. Always emphasized her Africanness, her blackness, and she emphasized that to us. And it was a beautiful thing because at a time, I think in the 60s where you had segregation, which was something that, not to say she didn't understand, she just played by the rules. So they said enter in this door, that's where she entered and everything. But, you know, she made a statement. She made a statement for her people, always keeping her culture at the forefront of her music, the drums in the music, and you always felt that Cuban mix. Just before she passed in 2003,

when she was able to claim her blackness, when you consider that when she started her career in Cuba, like you said, she had to go through the back doors of the hotel, she wasn't allowed to be part of the mainstream Cuban culture, to be able to have contributed to that awareness of blackness, just simply by being who she was. I think that's really one of her. her greatest legacies.

She was bold in the way that she did it, but it was always respectful. From growing up, I've never seen her have a beef with anybody. I've never seen her come out and make offensive statements, or she was never taken the wrong way because she was just a very respectful person. But what she was vocal and she did criticize was,

the human communistic government, which separated her from her family and had her here in the United States. And I think from afar, they probably regret not letting her come back because there was, who knows where Kuwa would have been if she would have been allowed to remain. You know, would she have ascended to this fame, to this height of popularity, or was it her longing to come back to Cuba or want to always carry Cuba with her that actually amplified her message or her persona. That's like a question that nobody knows. You are listening to a Latino.

We're celebrating Celia Cruz this week with her niece, Linda Pritchett. We're going to take a short break and we'll be right back. And we're here celebrating Celia Cruz with Celia's niece Linda Pritchett. Linda, okay, what do you have for us? What's your second song? I think I put Kimberra. Yes, you did. Yes, you did.

Kimba. What's so fun about it, it's almost like a tongue twister. like kimbara kimbara kumbra kumbha kimbabha kimbabha kimbamba it's like can you say that you know but uh and then when she breaks it up and then start saying hey mama oh hey mama and then when that octave goes up it gives you chills and that's just the power of her voice so um kimbara it's also a song like it starts off explosive from the beginning and it's just a dance song so As soon as Kimberra comes on, you know, hey, time to kick off your shoes. We're dancing.

It's happening. Linda, you stole Felix's pick. He tried to come in with that song. We can share it. We can share it. And this is the record Celia and Johnny that we're also celebrating. Because this was her first production with Johnny Pacheco, the Dominican co-owner of Fania and music arranger producer, lyricist, etc. It was the introduction to the rest of the world of their musical relationship.

What was that like? So Johnny Pacheco is somebody that I dearly loved. I remember Johnny Pacheco as early as that I can recall being six years old. He will always call me Pollo. And like, you know, Pollo and that wink, I'm like, you know, Johnny Pacheco was just an incredible guy. he had so much energy, he had flavor, and he just had so much class. So it was elegant the relationship between Johnny Pacheco and my aunt. Actually, when my aunt died and I was with her, I was there with her.

When Johnny came, he stood at the doorway and looked at her, and it was just like, wow, my partner in crime is passed on. You know, Joni Pacheco was an incredible partner for her, similar to Tito. He respected her. I think he used, say, her vocal attributes, and he enhanced it.

You know, he looked at different ways to make it more explosive. He was one of, I believe he was the co-owner of Fania, of the Fania All-Stars. and he was heavily involved. He was very hands-on. So I remember being at the studio with my aunt and Johnny Pacheco being there and, you know, all of that. He was really passionate.

He was not like just to the side. He was all in. And even when they would perform, he would get on the stage and dance. And then, you know, when he would pull out his flute and everything, it was amazing. But the hands-onness was amazing. of him always being a part of the show, not just in the backdrop. This is my understanding of the history of this album. Johnny Pacheco and Jerry Masucci had started Fun in 1964,

and they had released a bunch of records, and there were no female vocalist on the label, and Johnny Pacheco grew up in the Dominican Republic listening to the radio stations from Cuba and hearing Celia Cruz singing with Sonora Mantanzetta, the famous group that she played with, which made her a star in Cuba. So when they wanted to add something different, he says, we got to go. There's only one voice we can work with.

We've got to go with Celia. And he introduced Celia to all the younger, mostly New York and Puerto Rican musicians, some Cuban musicians. Celia was from a different generation. All of these guys were much younger. Celia was like from their parents' generation. And it just revitalized it and boosted everything coming from Fania because their arrangements, the albums, the vocals, everything just lifted everything up.

That's what I've read. That's the history that I understand. Does any of that resonate with you? It does. I mean, I was there when she, what became a Fania All-Star, I remember Jerry Masucci, and I remember, like I said, being in the studio, and Pacheco was really serious about the sound, about the music. but I think it's the fact that they had a moment where Latinos were on top and Latinos were like the kings and the queens of this music and there was no boundaries, no barriers. And in addition to that, most Latinos come from impoverished roots or background. So now they're rich, they're fly, they're flagrant. and they were like superheroes. And she being the female in a male-dominated industry,

she held her own very well because it was that professionalism. Dia never smoked. She didn't do a lot of the stuff that say other females in the music industry did. She was known for always being with Pedro. He was with her every day. the time, you know, everywhere. So she had a level of respect that actually commanded presence. But her voice also got her that seat at the table that she didn't actually ever have to compete with any other females for her recognition or her spot. She was unica and she was very unique

in the way that she carried herself. She was the only female in an environment. a very, very male environment. But she also opened the door for so many that came after her. And I think some of that goes all the way back to when she was in Cuba. The next track I brought in is from, I think it's about 1968. The album's called Serenato Oaxira. And it's sort of autobiographical because the song is called When I Sali de Cuba. That's

Guarding That's always When my When I'm When I'm To say me Because my Tierra

But But will But will The day In that my man It will

Inconter I Dehe my B When I To say Cuba That

That song has always struck me as so heartfelt and the emotions are very, very near the top. Do you remember her singing this song? I remember her singing the song

when she performed the nightclubs in Miami, which that song made people cry because they felt the same way. You know, not only did she leave Cuba, she left her mother, she left her family, and

it was that longing for what you know what was familiar to you and not being able to return to that you know and knowing that her family and the people in cuba are suffering so bad that really always hurt her that always really meant a lot to her and cubans love that song it just made them connect with how they felt so when she was singing that song the whole energy with shit It's a nostalgic song. It reminded them that, yes, you still are Cuban. No matter where you are, that's who you were. There's a fascinating side story, too,

about how her music initially was not played on the island, but eventually her influence was so strong that not just the people, but the people who controlled the media outlets, et cetera, just had to accept the fact that she was a Cuban presence that didn't know one. could deny. Yeah, but yeah.

So I haven't been to Cuba for political reasons. You know, the Cuban government does what they want to do. And I would, as an American, I wouldn't know how to live in Cuba, to be honest. You know, Cubans suffer

a lot. And I don't take for granted the conveniences that I have in the United States. It's very sad that they had a champion. a champion for their culture, a champion for everything that was Cuban. You know, she described in many songs in great detail the beauty that Cuba had, many of the Cuban customs.

It's sad that the government chose to stifle her voice and then people would have to just try to remember it or try to sing behind the scenes. And I think to today, people say that they play her music on the radio. I don't know if I believe that because she really was against the Cuban government and they really wanted to make sure that her voice, which was a voice of inspiration and liberation, that's not something that they want, the people to feel empowered with.

That stirs up stuff. And like the late John Lewis would say, that stirs up good trouble, you know? Yeah, that's a good point. Anna, you have the honor of bringing this. this show to a close because I love the song that you chose. Oh my goodness. Okay, so this was another one that I just felt like was so essentially Celia.

And I don't think anyone can hear this song and not immediately just start dancing to it. So what I'm going to play now is La Vida is a Carnival. Anna, what does that song say to you? What do you hear? Oh, my gosh. So much. I mean, I think, Linda, with everything we're talking about, like there is so much that your aunt, I think, chose to intentionally focus.

on and not focus on, I think, in presenting herself. Obviously, she did it authentically. We've talked about that a lot. But she chose joy. She chose fun. She chose celebration and dance. And anyone who listens to that song anywhere all over the world. Like we talked about Fania, they're in this moment of creating this unity for the diaspora.

And she did that with joy. I think you hit it right on the head. I mean, in that song, it's a song of, say, liberation. It's an empowerment song, basically continuing to let people know that, like she's saying, you know, life is not the same for everybody, but still, you don't have to cry. You know, it can be a carnival. What's interesting is when my mother died, when you're leaving out of the church, typically, I forget what song here in Georgia that they play, like, you know, kind of like,

lift up your spirits. My sister wanted to play this song for when we proceeded out of the church when my mother died. So I thought it was fitting. And honestly, when Dia died at her funeral, I forget the person's name, but he sang it a cappella. And everybody was like shocked. And here's an interesting story. When my aunt was alive, For her 25th winning anniversary, she wanted to renew her vows at St. Patrick's Cathedral. And we had grown up. We were raised Catholic and we went to Catholic school. And we needed, like, say, some, I guess, reference from our pastor or, you know, one of the clergy. And so when she asked them for a reference, they were like, we don't know you.

so she was not able to get the right credentials to be able to have her renewal of her vows at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I'm sure that they regretted that later on when she did die because that's where her funeral was held. So it's almost like a bittersweet where you deny me, but then at the end, even you had to figure out, oh wow, will be honored to host her here. Even though when she came out with that song, she was in her 70s, it was explosive. She still danced to the song herself, you know, when she performed it. So even though I liked her older songs better than the newer songs,

younger people love this music. And they still, as Gina Torres the other day mentioned, these songs are in the soundtrack of her life. You know, and I never thought of it that way, like, wow, if you think about it for a lot of people, that was a voice that you always heard and identified with, you know, with our culture. The intergenerational appreciation just speaks to her longevity. She will forever be Celia. And if people appreciate good music and especially keeping music, she'll always be the first name on everyone's list. Linda Pritchett, thank you so much for joining us.

It's been an honor to have you. you on the show and to hear your stories and for you to share them with us. Thank you so very much. Oh, absolutely. It's been my honor. And thank you all for keeping Celia's legacy and the legend of Celia Cruz alive.

Asucat. Asucan. You have been listening to Alt Latino. Our audio producer for this episode is Simon Retner with editorial support from Hazel Sills. The woman who keeps all the trains running on time is Grace Chung. And Sarahe Muhammad,

is the executive producer of NPR music. Our he and chief is Keith Jenkins, VP of Music and Visuals. I'm Ana Maria Sayre. I'm Felix Contreras. Thank you so much for joining us. Asuka.