Tumi Cuban and Latin American Music

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Celina González is "The True Folklore of Cuba"

'La Rica Cosecha', released in 1995 on Tumi Music, contained old classics like 'San Lazaro' and 'Mi Son es un Misterio' to hits such as 'Yo soy el Punto Cubano'. This careful selection presented a gratifying collection of the Queen of Country Music's greatest work. 'Desde la Habana te Traigo' released in her 50th year as an artist, pays tribute to the magnificent city that influenced her career and made her a star. This eagerly awaited recording guides us through 12 new rootsy recordings including guarachas that get you swiflty off your feet and into an Afro-cuban swing, as well as delicately enchanting you with a couple of boleros and a touch of son.

Celina, together with her son, the gifted singer Reutilio Dominguez Jr, are accompanied by the magnificent Orquesta America, inventors of the chachacha. Nearly fifty years on, the band has evolved gracefully and thanks to their powerful performances and groundbreaking recordings, they maintain their status as pioneers in the world of Cuban music. In the true manner of these 'maestros, led by Jorge Machado Duran, the recording is an intrepid experiment as for the first time in Celina's career she has chosen to record with a charanga band.

Celina and Reutilio have managed to create a new sound embracing Orquesta America's musical talents. It all came about after her inspiring guest appearance recorded in the first half of 1997, singing 'San Miguel' on the album 'Las Leyendas de la Musica Cubana - Orquesta America with Cuban All Stars (TMG Box1). Celina fell in love with the charanga format and decided to record an album with the legendary group. Normally accustomed to a guajiro accompaniment which emanates a very rural sound, this time she has successfully engaged the more acute intonation of the flute and violins line up thus enhancing the final result.

Known as the Cuban Queen of Country Music, Celina Gonzalez was born in Jovellanos, Matanzas, Cuba on the 16th of March 1929. She met Reutilio Dom<\m>nguez at the age of sixteen in Santiago de Cuba. He became her singing partner and husband resulting in a collaboration that lasted until Reutilio's death in Guantanamo in 1971. In 1948 they began working with the famous Nico Saquito and gained increasing popularity on radio, film and television. They performed in New York with two of the greatest Cuban artists of all time: Beny More and Barbarito Diez. In 1964 the duo stopped performing together and Celina continued as a soloist singing traditional guajira music.

The musical form she prefers is the decima. Most of her songs are written in this style and although, in the past the rhythms in her music were more guaguanco than pure Afro, they are now mostly guaracha. She sings about 'guajiros' and 'puntos' (country people) because she believes that these sectors of society are not fully appreciated. In 1980 she won Egrem's coveted Disco de Plata award for the record entitled 'Celina'. This was the beginning of many more awards to come in the 80's. 'Santa Barbara' later became one of her biggest hits and is featured on the album of the same name on Egrem available via Tumi Music.

In 1984 she was awarded the Vanguardia Nacional for her artistic work and won a trip to the Soviet Union and Bulgaria with her son. In 1984 she won the award for Best Singer at the 27th International Music Festival in Cali, Colombia and after a successful tour in Europe in 1988 she recorded a session for the BBC. Her biggest award came just two years ago when she received the Golden Picasso medal by UNESCO. Then, the same year, together with her son, Reutilio, she released the highly acclaimed 'La Rica Cosecha' on Tumi Music and performed a sell out concert at the Barbican Hall in London.

'Yo soy el Punto Cubano', from the album 'La Rica Cosecha' was a hit in many countries in Europe and also in Japan as well as being a firm favourite with the WMCE (World Music Charts Europe). Her new album 'Desde La Habana Te Traigo' offers an exciting new canvas for her to create her own masterpiece as Orquesta America, the legendary charanga band, embrace her voice with impressive results.

With Doña Celina

Celina began her musical career as a direct result of her love of the music she listened to as a child and with which she believes one is born with:

"In my home there was always the sound of musica campesina. We lived in the city but we were countryfolk from head to toe. This is something that one always carries inside oneself. Reutilio had never studied music. Not him or I. This came to us naturally in life. I did not learn from books, but from listening to the singing poets. And after hearing the work of many great poets, I write my own poems which most of the time I write just for me. Nevertheless, the best ones I put to songs that I sing to my audience".

Her special blend of guaracha, son, guaguanco and montunos have over the last fifty years been beautifully accompanied by harmonious lyrics which describe the real essence of her roots:

"My favourite topics are those about nature because Cuba is very beautiful from one extreme to another. I believe in inspiration... the sea and the countryside inspire me a lot. I admire the Beatles, Silvio Rodirguez and Pablo Milanes but Country Music is my thing. I remain a countrywoman in spite of many years living in Havana, a city which I love, where I received much affection and where I developed my career. I grew up in the countryside and it is from here where I take my first inspiration. My songs talk of the guajiros; my countrymen and women, of the trees, the flowers, the birds and insects of the countryside and the deities that inhabit the amazing mythical-religious world of the campesino".

Her first hit, 'Santa Barbara', launched her and her late husband's careers. The song which has played a pivotal role in her career remains forever of great significance:

"One fine day in 1948, upon arriving in Havana I went to the most well known shop which sold religious ornaments. I looked up at a particular statue which caught my eye and said: "I'll have that one". I bought the statue of a virgin which was my own size! Even today, I have kept that same statue with me, in every house I have lived in and in perfect condition. Without her, I wouldn't be the person I am. I owe my life and my victories to this saint. In my home, a colourful shrine containing the statue of Saint Barbara serves as a constant reminder of the day when in Santiago de Cuba days after I had bought the statue of Saint Barbara, she revealed herself to me and asked me to write a song about her in order to achieve success. A few days later, my husband Reutilio and I joined Nico Saquito and the song 'Santa Barbara' became a huge hit. The rest is history".

She is admired throughout the world yet admits that she always feels nervous when travelling to a new country to sing her music:

"In my first performance in England for example, I was trembling with fear as my music has no electronic elements and I felt that the audiences would not understand it. Then when on stage with my son Reutilio Jr (Lazaro) I heard the many cheers and warm greetings from the audience and thought: this is all for us. I was scheduled to perform for an hour and a half and finally ended up singing for three hours. In contrast, in Colombia, a place that I have visited over 34 times, many people come up to me, kiss my hands and ask for my blessing. On one particular visit when I performed one night in a sort of night-club, there was a shoot-out between the local mafia. Although there were some casualties, it was all over very quickly but in the midst of the flying bullets a stranger came up to me and with a comforting gesture said to me: "Don't worry Dona Celina, you are protected".

She is an example of dedication and perseverance, of limitless vocation to the most authentic roots in Cuban music. Due to her own appreciation for campesino music, she began singing well before becoming aware of her voice and her own character. A strong and talented artist who has managed to overcome many obstacles in a way only a true artist actually can:

"I have sang with fever, with the flu and even when I have been very ill yet when I begin to sing I feel a fire, a strength, something superior to my being. It is as if I were reborn. Everything inside me rejuvenates. When in 1956 Reutilio, Ramon Veloz, Coralia and I had a special act at the Tropicana there was a part of the act where we had to improvise entirely. Although we repeated the same act every night we went all out, fully charged every time. One night a particular gentleman, whom I later found out was an important concert promoter, began to mock our act and imitate Ramon. When it was my turn to sing I said to myself: to hell with him; even if they kick me out of here I wont let him get away with it. So I went up to his table and looking at him in the eyes I sang: When I hear a pathetic critic, I throw him a guajiro song, I'd like to aim a gun at him and shoot him right in the heart. The embarrassed man put his head between his legs and everyone applauded. That's who I am! Celina Gonzalez".

Celina is one of many artists that preferred to remain in Cuba rejecting the idea of defection despite the allure of international fame, riches and travel so as to sing to her most loyal audiences. Now, due to her mounting international popularity she is able to feel optimistic and offer her artistic self for everyone to enjoy:

"I believe the future will hold great things for me and my son Reutilio. With increasing international tour offers thanks to the record companies that have supported me and the status of 'Diva' which is what many are calling me! (God only knows why), I hope to talk to many more people and tell them the story of Cuba. I just sing the music of my people, my land and always, always from the heart".


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