Celia Cruzm, Essay Example

Who’s heard this song before? Who knew the artist before I played this for you? Well, let me introduce you to Celia Cruz, “Queen of Salsa Music” (Encyclopedia Brittanica, para. 1). Born in Havana, Cuba around 1929 she entertained audiences there until around thirty years of age when she moved to Mexico then to the United States. From 1959 until her death in 2003, Celia Cruz was a major influence on music, dance, and feminism.

Celia’s contribution to music begins in Havana. She grew up in a Havana district known as Santos Suarez where she entertained small audiences. She was one of 14 children who saw her passion realized, not in her chosen career path, as a literature teacher, but as a singer after winning a talent show (Encyclopedia Brittanica, para. 2). She won the talent show because she “reinterpreted the tango piece “Nostalgia” in a bolero tempo” (Encyclopedia Brittanica, para. 2). After the talent show, she gave up her career as a teacher and pursued her dream of being a singer.

Celia’s break came in 1950 when she headlined a local nightclub, “Havana’s Tropicana”. It was here, and in Cuba, that she truly began seeing her dream come true: she became the lead singer of La Sonora Matancera (a popular band in Cuba at the time), and she began performing on stage and on the radio. Not only this, but when she made her move to Mexico she landed starring roles in five different features. During this decade, Cuba began its revolution and so Celia sought refuge and a place to more safely pursue her music and she moved to New York City.

It was in the Big Apple that Celia gained more attention. She married trumpet player, Pedro Knight, who eventually became her manager. During her first years as a musician in New York City, Celia recorded 20 albums with the record studio Seeco Records, and several more for Tico Records (Encyclopedia Brittanica, para. 3). In the 1960’s Celia found gaining an audience rather difficult; this was in part due to the musical attention by other bands and genres of music such as The Beetles, Hendrix, Janis Joplin, etc. whose musical style Americans were so impressed by. Celia’s music wasn’t mainstream and her sales suffered for this.

In order to gain the success she felt she wanted, Celia began to identify herself with specific sounds, or a type of music: salsa. Who here knows about salsa? What is it? Well, mainly, it has to do with feeling the Caribbean music course through your entire body, and letting that beat, the salsa beat, move your body in a fast and fun way. Celia branded herself with that beat. One smart career move that Celia did was to brand herself with Hispanics and Cubans; she did this by singing the Latin opera Hommy (1973) (Encyclopedia Brittanica, para. 3). Her big performance came when she perfomed this opera (a knockoff of the hit musical Tommy) in New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Celia truly came into her own in New York. Her voice was branded for Latino audiences, and her style of music fit so well with the subculture of Latinos in the city and their love of dancing the salsa. It was her voice that truly garnered attention: it had a range that included both high and low pitches. She improvised lyrics on stage (much like beat poetry) and she included costume changes, and flamboyant styles of dress for her show (much like Cher or Lady GaGa do now). Celia wore wigs, exaggeratingly high, high-heels, and very tight sequined clothing that denoted her association with Latinos (who are known for such outfits even now) (Encyclopedia Brittanica, para. 3). Her style of singing and her outfits rocketed her to such fame that the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. has on display, one of Celia Cruz’s costumes (“Celia Cruz,” Celia Cruz, para. 3).

“For six decades, Cuban singer Celia Cruz reigned as the Queen of Salsa. Her life and colorful career are the subject of a retrospective exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.” (Contreras para 1).      Celia’s stardom came with many perks. She was so famous that BBC did a documentary about her entitled “My Name is Celia Cruz” (1986). Celia didn’t occlude herself from the entertainment industry: she performed in American films as well, including The Mambo Kings, and The Perez Family.  Her life was exciting and full of such passion and success that she wrote an autobiography (originally in Spanish and then translated into English because of its popularity). Contreras states, “It is as if the earth opened her mouth to talk and to sing.” That’s how Marvette Perez, curator of Latino history and culture for the museum, describes the power of Cruz’s music” (para 2). During her stardom and stage career, Celia enjoyed such honors as winning three Grammy Awards, as well as three Latin Grammy Awards (Encyclopedia Brittanica, para. 3). Her influence on other bands is best expressed through singer, Johnny Ventura’s words, “Later in life, God rewarded me with the honor of having my band accompany Celia and her group on concert tours around the world. For my group, this was the ultimate privilege — we admired her so much. Our chemistry with her was magical. The relationship was so special, she knew every band member by name” (Ventura para. 4). Her life was truly blessed and she offered everyone around the world, a taste of Cuban culture through her music, her voice, and her life. Thank you.

Works Cited

“Celia Cruz.” Encyclopedia Brittanica. 3^rd edition. 2014. Print.

“Celia Cruz.” Celia Cruz. Web. 22 July 2014.

Contreres, F. NPR. 2005. Web. 22 July 2014.

Ventura, J. “Celia Cruz.” Miami Herald. 2014. Web. 22 July 2014.