Elena Burke Remembered on the 8th Anniversary of her Death
- Submitted by: admin
- Music
- Personalities
- 06 / 17 / 2010
I was recently amazed by a child who was singing a song by late Elena Burke "one of Cuba's bet singers ever.
The boy sang with a passion unusual for someone his age. And what is even more shocking, he knew many other songs of her repertoire, which an expert would have certainly judged inappropriate for someone so young.
Burke had the capacity to communicate a wide range of sonorous motives and symbols to different kinds of people. She was also worthy of the greatest acknowledgment an artist can have: the love of her public, and the delight they took in listening to her perturbing and at the same time beautiful love songs.
Elena Burke is a myth of Cuban culture. She was called 2Lady Feeling" by many generations of Cubans who discovered love through her tunes and her unmatched performances.
Like many of her contemporaries, Burke did not have a solid academic background.
However, her innate talent was so powerful that she came to create her own singing style and concept of song as something intimate, personal and seductive.
The popular Cuban artist made her debut in the feeling genre when it was not still consolidated and those who would become its most important figures were not famous yet.
With her natural intuition, Burke followed the advice of these mentors, learning all she could from their experiences. Of course no one suspected yet that many years later this beautiful woman would become one of the most important interpreters of the artistic movement that had its origins in the renowned Hamel Alley of Havana.
She sang with many vocal groups in the 1950s: the Orlando de la Rosa and the Aida Diestro quartets; and in 1958 the Gema label produced her first disc, which opened a world of possibilities to the young singer.
As years went by, Elena improved her technique and took part in anthologic performances accompanied by her inseparable friends Omara Portuondo and Moraima Secada, who were women of an astonishing strength, and a dedicated love for arts and friendship.
Her popularity grew throughout the years and she gained international recognition, because wherever she presented, she irradiated that wonderful Cuban spirit and rhythm that most people find so appealing.
Still remembered in Mexico and other Latin American countries, her voice will vibrate in our hearts as long as artists continue to invoke feelings and passion in their songs "even when some think and want us to believe that love is in an irreversible crisis."
Elena Burke lives and will forever live in our memories, in the minds of those who like to give themselves to love, those who have hope and remember her tenderly.
It's not surprise then that even a child, like Abraham " the boy I mentioned above" continues to sing Elena's songs as his own with incredible inspiration.
By: Ana Margarita Sánchez Soler
Source: Radio Metropolitana
Comments