Omara Portuondo: Gracias

Like many Americans, I unfortunately didn’t discover Omara Portuondo until the late ‘90s when she emerged as the only female singer on the highly successful Buena Vista Social Club, at which point her musical career had been going approximately 50 years in her native Cuba. She has a lovely expressive voice and even though my understanding of Español is limited, the emotions of the stories she sings about on Gracias and her reflections in the liner notes transcend my linguistic limitations.

“Yo vi” reminds Portuondo “of the Caribbean and its islands” and it’s easy to hear why. The musical arrangement is as comforting as a warm night’s breeze off the ocean, particularly the eleven-piece string section waxing and waning throughout like the moonlight.

“Adiós felicidad” is about “a love I once had but which never actually came to pass. A love that could never be.” Even without knowing the title means “goodbye happiness,” the listener can hear the sadness and resignation in her voice, especially when she repeats the words. The music parallels the emotions as Roberto Fonseca’s lone piano opens the song. On the bridge Avishai Cohen’s double bass comes to the forefront with a restrained freneticism

“O que será (À flor da terra)” finds Portuondo trading vocals with Chico Buarque on a song that captures her life-long captivation with Brazil. The rhythm is upbeat and sure to fill the dance floor. On “Vuela pena” she starts softly, backed by just the piano. As the song progresses, her vocals, augmented by the other instruments, swell in intensity like she is emerging from turmoil and has grown stronger for surviving. The song repeats the pattern.

“Amame como soy” is a tribute to Elena Burke, her fellow singer in Cuarteto D'Aida. Pablo Milanés, who wrote the song, joins in the vocal. It’s got a great beat. She sings another Milanés song, “Tu mi desengaño.” It has a very lush sound from the 12-person string section backing her.

The title track, sung with Jorge Drexler, is a thank you to all the musicians she has worked with, it’s so simple and pleasing reflecting the simple joy and gratitude that common phrase can convey. On “Lo que me queda por vivir” the 78-year-old sings about “what life still has to give [her], and…it will be a smile.” It’s a great, positive outlook no matter how many days lie ahead. The large string section returns to this arrangement, giving the song weight and grandeur.

Children have had a great impact on Portuondo’s life. “Cuento para un niño” “is dedicated to their innocence and to the difficult task entailed by becoming an adult.” By singing over an acoustic guitar for the majority of it, the music emulates a child-like simplicity. “Cachita” opens with a young girl singing, her granddaughter Rossio Jimenez. Abuela Omara joins in the next verse. They sing together on the chorus backed only by a clave. There is something so sweet and natural about the two singing together, like they might do alone in a garden. “Nuestro gran amor,” written by her son Ariel Jiminéz, “portrays the profound love” that only a mother can feel for her son.

“Drume negrita” is a lullaby she used to sing to her son and granddaughter. Only backed by bass, percussion, and background vocals, it creates a dreamy state the listener can to drift off to as it closes the album.

Omara Portuondo’s Gracias is a beautiful album that reveals a number of facets of her life. The words may sound foreign, but the music and stories are universal.

MATUSALEM GRAN RESERVA RUM

At the 8th Annual San Francisco World Spirits Competition Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum won the title “Best Rum” and was proclaimed a Double Gold Medal Winner. Although I didn’t get to participate in the selection process, I understand why it did so well because I was impressed by the beverage and can recommend it to fellow rum drinkers.

The Alvarez family uses a distillation and blending process, known as the Solera system, which was originally developed in late 1500s Spain for sherry. They began to make rum in Santiago de Cuba in 1872 and became known as national brand. After Castro’s revolution, the family fled the country. Currently the company operates in the Dominican Republic.

Because of the lengthy aging process where they blend young and older rums in French oak casks, they took the name Matusalem from the Spanish proverb “Esto es mas viejo que Matusalem,” which translates into “it’s older than Methuselah”. After 15 years, Matusalem Gran Reserva is ready to be served. They also offer Clasico, a 10-year-old blend, and Platino, a three-year-old blend.

Gran Reserva has a nice golden amber color. The bouquet has a very light sweetness from the combination of molasses and plum. There are also mild hints of vanilla and caramel. In a shot straight out of the bottle, it’s definitely strong at 40% alcohol but after the initial reaction from the swig, there’s no harsh aftertaste.

I also made myself the most basic rum drink: the Rum and Coke. I poured a shot of Gran Reserva over ice in a lowball glass, gave it a squeeze of lime, and then filled the remainder with RC Cola to create a smooth beverage that tasted so good and refreshing, it could lead one to trouble because you could easily get fooled about how much alcohol you had drank.

Two drink recipes that are recommends by the makers of Gran Reserva are:

Cuban Special:
1 ½ oz. Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum
Juice from half a lime
1 ½ oz. Cointreau
1 ¼ oz. pineapple juice
Ice cubes
Using a shaker with ice cubes, pour Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum; add lime juice, pineapple juice & Cointreau; shake well; strain into chilled cocktail glass; garnish with a lime twist.

Cuban American:
1 oz. Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum
¾ oz. lime juice
¼ oz. triple sec
½ oz. Bourbon
Ice cubes
Using a shaker with ice cubes, pour Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum; add lime juice, pineapple juice & Bourbon; shake well; strain into chilled cocktail glass; garnish with a lime twist.

Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum is available wherever fine liquors are sold.

SICKO

Michael Moore is back with another documentary that is sure to get the country involved in another debate, which even if you vehemently disagree with his point of view, is much better than the usual passive experience of movies. Sicko will make you think, make you learn, and hopefully make you act.

Rather than focusing on Americans without health insurance that politicians usually talk about, Moore examines those who have it. He starts with a series of sad stories about the hardships people have had with insurance companies and then interviews those who have worked on the inside, allowing them to explain the tricks of the trade of denying coverage and saving the company money. Insurance companies are business so obviously profits are their motive, but how much is a human life worth? Would you understand if a company saved $500 as opposed to performing a test that could save your life? Your spouse’s? Your child’s?

The film looks at the U.S. government’s involvement in healthcare from Nixon interest in Kaiser Permanente’s HMOs once he found out they were private enterprise to Hillary’s work as the chairwoman of the Task Force on National Health Care Reform and President Bush’s Medicare prescription-drug plan, whose main supporter, Congressman Billy Tauzin, went to work for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America the same day he left Congress.

Moore compares and contrasts the U.S. healthcare system with other countries, Canada, England, and France, all of whom come out better, but who is too say how accurate it is. Just because we don’t hear any complaints doesn’t mean there aren’t any, and I know from family experience that Canada has its flaws. However, it’s hard to argue, although surely some will, with the World Health Organization ranking the United States 37th in part due to our infant morality rate and life expectancy, placing us between Costa Rica and Slovenia. If our national basketball team were that bad, sports radio would be on fire with outrage.

Moore meets with people who have gotten sick from their volunteer work at Ground Zero, cleaning up Twin Towers debris and looking for survivors. These people are patriots who have severely damaged their health in the service of their country and only received lip service in exchange from the state and federal government. With many politicians boasting about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Moore takes these American heroes down to the detention center, reasoning it only fair that they receive healthcare as good as Al Queda gets.

Not surprisingly, they don’t get in, so they enter Cuba and go to a hospital. Moore asks that they be treated just as anyone else would, but considering there are cameras around, it’s likely that they received the best care available, and since we see no other Cuban hospital, there’s nothing to compare. Undercover cameras would have provided a more accurate picture. However with that being said, Moore absolutely should not have been able to find anyone who worked or volunteered at Ground Zero who needed his assistance. That fact is an absolute embarrassment to the nation.

As is the footage of a taxi dumping an old woman on Skid Row when a hospital decided her stay was up, unfortunately not an uncommon practice in Los Angeles. Again, hospitals are businesses, so they have to make money, but can’t a better way be found to treat people more humanely? Was it necessary for civil and criminal lawsuits and over a half million in penalties to get Kaiser to treat people better? Does a dollar really mean so much to some people?

However it’s not all tears and tragedy as Sicko has many humorous moments. An insurance company had agreed to give a young toddler who was losing hearing in both ears only one cochlear implant, but when her father wrote a letter claiming he was going to contact Michael Moore, they were somehow able to do both.

In Sicko, Moore presents his version of the story of the U.S. healthcare system. Even though every single person does the same, he will be chastised for it because some people have yet to realize that documentaries are op-ed pieces. Is everything presented in the film accurate and true as presented? Who knows, but while you shouldn’t trust everything Moore presents that same standard should be applied to his detractors. Seek out information on your own and make your own decisions.

The nation is about to have a conversation, an impressive achievement for a film.