Description
Angelique Kidjo – Celia – Vinyl Record
Celia doesn’t feel like a tribute that looks backward—it moves forward with purpose. Released in 2019, the album finds Angélique Kidjo reinterpreting the music of Celia Cruz, not by imitating it, but by reshaping it through a broader Afro-Caribbean lens that reconnects the music to its deeper roots.
Celia Cruz’s voice and presence defined Afro-Cuban music for decades, but Kidjo approaches these songs from a different angle. Instead of recreating the original arrangements, she strips them down and rebuilds them with stronger ties to West African rhythms, drawing a line between Cuban salsa and the African musical traditions that influenced it in the first place.
The result shifts the center of gravity. Percussion takes on a more prominent role, grooves feel earthier and more grounded, and the arrangements breathe differently. Horn sections still rise and fall with energy, but they’re balanced by layered rhythms that give the music a wider sense of space and movement.
Kidjo’s voice brings a different kind of power to the material. Where Celia Cruz often delivered her songs with explosive, commanding energy, Kidjo adds nuance and variation—moving between warmth, control, and bursts of intensity. She doesn’t replace Cruz’s presence; she reframes it.
Songs like “Quimbara” and “Bemba Colorá” carry familiar melodic shapes, but the rhythmic feel underneath them has shifted. The music feels less like a direct homage and more like a conversation across time and geography, connecting Havana to West Africa in a way that feels both natural and deliberate.
The album also carries a sense of celebration. Even as it reinterprets well-known material, it never feels restrained or overly reverent. There’s movement, color, and a constant sense of life in the performances.
Celia ultimately becomes more than a tribute album. It’s a reminder of how connected musical traditions can be—how sounds travel, evolve, and return in new forms. Through Kidjo’s interpretation, the music of Celia Cruz is both honored and expanded, given a new context that feels just as vibrant as the original.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Cucala
La Vida Es Un Carnaval
Sahara
Baila Yemaya
Toro Mata
Elegua
Quimbara
Bembe Colora
Oye Diosa
Yemaya
