In 1992, during an audition for the program Tropicalísimo from University Radio, we approached Celia Cruz about the record “La Ceiba”, edited by Vaya Records in 1979, and with humility the Guarachera del Mundo recognized that she would like to record a couple of tracks with Yolanda Rivera, a singer from La Sonora Ponceña and a proven sonera, whose voice can clearly be heard in the chorus of this recording.

“La Ceiba” was a production suggested by the president of Fania, Jerry Masucci, who signed on Celia after the global impact of the guajira Gracia Divina, included in the Latin opera Hommy that was recorded by the Orchestra Harlow in 1973.

It is important to remember, for those keeping track, the context in which Celia Cruz embraces her artistic fame beginning in 1973. While La Lupe was the queen of Latin soul, Celia, in spite of her recordings with Tito Puente, remained in her shadow.

When Masucci acquired the Tico record label, the contracts of Celia and La Lupe passed into his hands, with the difference being that the Italian American attorney opts to develop Celia and neutralize, without much promotion, the career of La Lupe.

In this way, the success of Gracia Divina was translated into recordings with Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colón and the Fania All Stars, a group of artists with whom she that got together in Yankee Stadium for a film and performed a stunning rendition of Bemba Colorá, a hit by the queen of guaguancó Celeste Mendoza, the greatest Cuban sonera in history.

The LP Celia & Johnny made a great impact in Africa, where Celia traveled with the Fania All Stars. In the songs that Celia recorded with el Tumbao Añejo de Pacheco, the pianist was ponceño Papo Lucca, who shortly afterwards would replace Larry Harlow in the Fania All Stars.

The meeting of Celia with la Sonora Ponceña in the LP “La Ceiba” was preceded, notably, by the album Recordando El Ayer, whose credits were shared by Celia, Johnny Pacheco, the sonero from Matanzas, Justo Betancourt and the young Papo Lucca.

“La Ceiba”, in honor of the graceful and centennial tree that symbolizes the Stately City of Ponce, does not represent the best work of either La Sonora Ponceña or Celia Cruz. However, it is an indispensable album for the music collections of the fans of la Ponceña and la Reina Rumba (Celia Cruz).

“Soy Antillana”, by the Cuban actress living in Puerto Rico, Marilyn Pupo, is a tribute composed in the rhythm of son to the Caribbean identity, with reminiscences of discourses by Hostos and Martí who were in favor of the unity of the citizens of Cuba, Santo Domingo and Boriquen, rounded off by a solo from the exceptional Papo Lucca.

“Sonaremos El Tambó”, a guaguancó rhythm, would have been the perfect setting for a dueling performance between Celia and Yolanda. With soneos in the yoruba language, Celia demonstrates that she knows the fundmentals of improvisation, at the same time as Vicente Little Johnny Rivero shows his greatness with a tumbadora (conga) solo.

“Abreme La Puerta” is a merengue that, in 1979, attempted to capitalize on the success of El Guavá and Pun Pun Catalú, recorded with Pacheco and Willie Colón. The Dominican cadence gives way to the feel of the bolero in this version of “Y Volveré”, a bolero popularized by Los Ángeles Negros.

“A La Buena Sí”, with the richness of the bomba and the plena, is a composition by Tite Curet that appears to be the response to the bomba Si Te Cojo by Bobby Capó that Ismael Rivera recorded in 1977 with the Cachimbos on the LP De Todas Maneras Rosas.

“Fina Estampa”, without montuno, is the salsa adaptation of the classic Latin American folklore by Chabuca Granda. “Raíces”, by the Puerto Rican comedian Shorty Castro, is a tribute to the legacy of the latent African ancestors in the culture and idiosyncracies of the Caribbean. “La Ceiba Y La Siguaraya”, its first lines sung by the deceased Miguelito Ortiz, is a celebration of the joining together of Cuba and Puerto Rico through the meeting of Celia and La Sonora Ponceña.

Celia Cruz recorded in San Juan and even though her presence rarely coincided with the Ponceña playing on the Borinquen stage, around the 1990s they got together at the Bacardi Crafts Fair, celebrated in Cataño, in front of 30,000 people who applauded the best of this record.

Credits

Enrique (Quique) Lucca – Band Leader
Papo Lucca – Piano
Ramón A. Rodríguez – Trumpet
Delfín Pérez – Trumpet
Nelson Feliciano – Trumpet
Antonio Santaella – Bass
Angel L. Hernández – Bongo
Jessie Colón – Timbales
Humberto Godineaux – Trumpet
Vicente ‘Little Johnny’ Rivero – Congas
Miguel A. Ortiz – Güiro
Milton Miranda – Cuatro (“A La Buena Sí”)

Special Guest – Salvador Cuevas - Bass


Chorus - Miguel A. Ortiz, Yolanda Rivera, Edwin Rosas, Jossie León


Producer – Papo Lucca
Co-Producer – Quique Lucca
Executive Producer – Jerry Masucci
Recording Director – Quique Lucca
Musical Director – Papo Lucca, Elias López
Arrangements: Papo Lucca, Elías Lopéz, Johnny López “El Manso”, Tito Valentín, Louie Ramírez
Original Album Design – Ron Levine





Written by Jaime Torres Torres
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