Omara Portuondo

Omara Portuondo Peláez is one of the most important Cuban feeling singers of all time. She was born in Havana, Cuba, on October 29, 1930.

Her mother came from a prominent Cuban family of Spanish descent, and it was expected that she would marry into another family within society. However, she eloped with the man she loved, a baseball player from the national team. The couple had three daughters, and like in any Cuban household, music was present; they had little money, but they had their parents' voices singing in the kitchen as they went about their daily lives. Omara, who was born in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood of Havana, fondly remembers her favorite songs, including "La bayamesa" by Ernesto Grenet and Sindo Garay (which was also sung by Compay Segundo in Buena Vista Social Club). These became her first informal singing lessons, and the songs remained a part of her lifelong repertoire.

When her sister Haydée became a dancer at the famous cabaret Tropicana, Omara soon followed by accident: the dance company found itself short one day in 1945 when a dancer withdrew just two days before a major premiere. Omara had watched her sister rehearse so often that she knew all the steps, so they asked her to fill the vacancy. “It was a very chic cabaret, but I said it was unacceptable,” Omara recalls. “I was very shy and embarrassed to show my legs.” However, her mother convinced her by saying she couldn't let them down; thus began her career as a dancer, forming a famous partnership with dancer Rolando Espinosa.

On weekends, Omara and Haydée sang jazz standards with some friends: César Portillo de la Luz, José Antonio Méndez, and pianist Frank Emilio Flynn. They called themselves Loquibambla Swing, and the style they played—a Cubanized version of bossa nova infused with jazz influences—came to be known as “feeling,” or in Spanish, “filin.” During her radio debut, Omara was introduced as Omara Brown, the girlfriend of filin. That stage name was soon forgotten, but the definition that accompanied it still remains.

In 1950, she became a member of the Orquesta Anacaona, and by 1952, Omara and her sister Haydée Portuondo formed a female vocal quartet with Elena Burke and Moraima Secada, led by pianist Aída Diestro. They became one of the most important vocal quartets in Cuban music, and Omara stayed with Cuarteto Las De Aída for 15 years, although the original lineup only recorded one album for RCA Victor in 1957. They went on numerous tours throughout America with innovative vocal arrangements by Aída; they had the opportunity to share the stage with Édith Piaf, Pedro Vargas, Rita Montaner, Bola de Nieve, and Benny Moré, and they also accompanied Nat King Cole during his performance at Tropicana.

He made his solo debut with the album Magia negra, released in 1959, which blends Cuban music and jazz and includes covers of That Old Black Magic and Caravan by Duke Ellington. He then continued with Las De Aída until 1967, the year he fully dedicated himself to his solo career, performing in Cuba and at various international festivals representing the country.

In the 1970s, she sang with the Orquesta Aragón and traveled extensively, performing in several countries such as France, Japan, Belgium, Finland, and Sweden. Omara made many recordings over the following two decades; however, the standout is the album she recorded with Adalberto Álvarez in 1984, along with two others produced for the Spanish label “Nubenegra”: “Palabras” and “Desafíos.”

The Cuban director Fernando Pérez Valdés made a documentary about the singer titled Omara in 1983.

In 2000, World Circuit released Buena Vista Social Club presents... Omara Portuondo, the third album of this ensemble featuring musicians such as Rubén González, Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, and Jesús "Aguaje" Ramos, as well as guest appearances by artists like Eliades Ochoa, Compay Segundo, Manuel Garban, and Ibrahim Ferrer.

The album, which received high praise from critics, led Omara to a world tour in 2000-2001 with her Buena Vista colleagues, Rubén González and Ibrahim Ferrer.

In 2002, he undertook an extensive solo international tour, with numerous dates in North America and Europe. In the fall of that year, he participated in the Jazz Festival in Japan.

In 2003, he/she went on a tour of Canada and the United States.

In September 2003, he recorded at the EGREM studios what would become his second solo album produced by World Circuit.

The album Flor de amor marks a change in direction, and the blend of Cuban musicians with a selection of Brazilian artists gives the disc a unique sound.

On November 5, 2009, she won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album with "Gracias." What is significant is that she became the first Cuban artist residing in her country to receive this prestigious honor and to collect it in person. In the album, Omara reflects on her 60 years of artistic career, featuring special appearances by the Cubans Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés, the Uruguayan Jorge Drexler, and the Brazilian Chico Buarque.

In 2010, she recorded a song for the Spanish version of the movie The Princess and the Frog, translated as Taina y el sapo, by Walt Disney, performing a song by the elderly Mama Odie: Dig a Little Deeper. For the soundtrack of the Latin American version, titled La princesa y el sapo, she did not record any songs.

In September 2020, she was nominated for her album *Mariposas* for the award of 'Best Contemporary Tropical Fusion Album' at the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards.

In October 2020, to celebrate her 90th birthday, Portuondo held an online concert alongside flautist Ethiel Faílde, where she performed songs like "20 años" and "Dos Gardenias," both of which have been significant in her musical repertoire over the years.

In December 2020, she was awarded the title of "Heroine of Labor of the Republic of Cuba" by the Council of State.