Sabor Popular De Cuba: Grabaciones Historicas 1955-1996 CD

Lola Flores is regarded -- and justly so -- as one of Spain's national musical heroes. Her deeply throaty and sometimes guttural voice grabbed hold of the material and put it inside her body for it to be released as a force of nature. These 14 tracks, covering the best of her material from the '40s and early '50s, are her classics. Most were written for her by the cream of the crop of flamenco and Andalusian classical composers such as José Alfredo Jiménez, Rafael DeLeon, Armando Manzanero and Quintero León. Her classic recordings, such as "La Flor de Temperamento," "Gloria Cadiz," and the lovely "Adoro" are all here. Some of these performances are orchestral; some are stripped to the bone with guitars, and dancers and castanets for accompaniment. This is a fine introduction to one of the great voices in the history of the music. ~ Thom Jurek