La Lupe & Tito Puente - El Rey Y Yo (1967)

El Rey y Yo is one of several contributions recorded with Tito Puente, who later became a world wide Cuban music star, revered by many as one of the great exponents of Afro Cuban rythm. When questioned about La Lupe, after her death, Tito Puente spoke of her as a highly professional performer; La Lupe is much more that that, she is probably one of the greatest singers to flee La Habana.
La Lupe and her story are full of colorful events, she left her native Cuba long before political upset, indeed she did not leave but was expelled because whilst performing at a local club she started to strip tease: that is La Lupe. She would get so carried away, so intrinsically connected to what she was doing that she is the author and performer of songs of all styles rendered in an unfamiliar strong, heart felt, intense and electric way. She is the first performer of that era who left aside "beautiful singing" to produce, sometimes awkward sounds but emotionally accurate interpretations.
This CD contains tracks that have become anthologies of her work: Oriente, Esas lágrimas son pocas and El Amo. Among with other renditions always different that one would expect, yet completely believable and true. This CD keeps track of her performing gifts, she sails through styles such as cumbia, bomba, jala-jala, huahuanco, santeria and the very special "bolero". Soft tracks, with lyrics always dealing with love affairs, love denial and loss, constitute a genre of music affiliated with an era, a place: the Caribbean; perhaps one of the most demanding styles, because of the special powers this type of music requires of a performer.
Bolero requires a naked soul, a performance so sheer and pure that one would have no doubt of the truth and emotionality of the lyrics, thus creating the ultimate artifice: creating an artistic reality, true only to the artist and the listener. It is in this style that La Lupe and her powers were most effective, she was a true diva and this CD is a living testimony to all of us who regret her troubled life her untimely death and Musical history at large, not knowing how to place this artist among the very high.