Mi Sueño

Ibrahim Ferrer

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: March 26, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000NVHWLG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,880 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #28 in	Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba > Salsa
  #59 in	Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba > Bolero

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
When Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social club lead vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer died in August 2005 at the age of 78, he was within a few weeks of accomplishing a lifelong ambition: to record an album of suave, sexy, elegant Cuban boleros. The first acknowledged tune of the genre, "Tristezas," was composed in Santiago by Pepe Sánchez during the late 1800s. The form was descended from a Spanish waltz-like dance of the same name, which in turn evolved from the French contradanse and, even earlier on, from English rural styles. Strangely, Ferrer had repeatedly been told that his voice was not sufficiently "manly" for these leisurely, achingly romantic ballads. But judging by the present tracks--and despite the inevitable depredations of age, which only give his interpretations an added, rueful vulnerability--this is demonstrably untrue. The singer's reedy tenor, in some cases rescued from high-quality demos with instrumentals recorded posthumously, touches places in a listener's soul that no power-popster with an umpteen-octave range and mud-slides of melisma could remotely approach. Ferrer is joined by BVSC band-mates Rubén González (piano) and Omara Portuondo (vocals) on one tune each and is accompanied by the soulfully rinky-tink piano of Roberto Fonseca, Orlando "Cachaíto" López's sinuous, resonant acoustic bass and Manuel Galbán's sensitive guitar, with Ramses Rodrigues and Emilio del Monte manning trap drums and percussion. Overall, Mi Sueño ("My Dream") has a late-night feeling, as though captured amid an after-hours jam in a smoky, malt-scented Havana nightclub, long after sleeves have been pushed up and chairs piled on the tables. --Christina Roden

Product Description
Mi Sueno is essential listening. Ferrer brings warmth, ease, humor and poignancy to his vocals, where romance is looked back on fondly and still longed for passionately. Featuring "Uno" and "Perfidia," Mi Sueno is a dream everyone can share.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulful, April 25, 2007

By	Alicia - See all my reviews

I have quite a few of Ibrahim Ferrer's recorded music and found his boleros (slower songs) quite pleasing and emotional. I would pick the boleros he sang out of all the Buena Vista recordings and put them on my MP3 player because I liked the soulful emotion he envoked when he sang. It's hard to describe in words, sometimes an artist interpretation of a song really touches the soul, Ibrahim was one of these unique artists. I was very pleased to see that there is finally a release of just slow songs, about love and relationships, even if you don't understand the Spanish language, I think you will hear his Cuban soul and warmth penetrate your senses. I must say that in his earlier recordings ( from the original Buena Vista recordings) the tone and clarity of his voice was prime. In this CD, one can hear the aging of his voice a bit, but don't let that deter you from adding this CD to your collection, for such a soulfoul voice only comes about once in a decade or two, and Ibrahim's expressive qualities were as eminently apparent in his earlier years as they were in his late years. This is a good selection of songs, some were very popular, such as "Perfidia," and "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas," others less recognizable, but all suitable for both listening and slow dancing.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, thank you, thank you..., April 25, 2007

By	E. Tseng (TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was absolutely crushed when I heard of Ferrer's death back in 2005, and the recent release of Mi Sueno was more than I could have asked for to bring his music back into my life.

I take issue with the previous reviewer who stated that Ibrahim did not have much of a voice (unless having a "voice" nowadays only means how loud someone can sing, which seems to be the case when watching contestants on American Idol). I'm sure it wasn't meant in a negative way--after all, those are words I would use to describe the inimitable Billie Holiday--but there is nothing lacking in his vocal strength or technique. Even in the last years of his life, he could still carry a note so meltingly beautiful and full of emotion without sounding strained. The most wonderful quality about his singing is the brightness of his tone yet the ability to convey bittersweet sadness at the same time. I don't have to understand Spanish to know what the songs are about.

Roberto Fonseca brings a wonderful modern sound to the album, and while I miss the virtuosic Ruben Gonzalez, I'm glad that this was my introduction to another talented Cuban pianist who I will be looking out for in the future.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inimitable grace., April 24, 2007

By	Marie deVarenne (Boston, MA and Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews

When those magnificent Cuban veterans Buena Vista Social Club exploded on to the scene, their singer Ibrahim Ferrer was the life and soul of the party.

It wasn't so much his voice - he really didn't have much of one - but more what he did with it: his timing, and the irrepressible glee with which he delivered his frequently saucy lyrics.

"Mi sueno" means "my dream", and that is literally what this posthumous new album meant for him: he had always wanted to record a collection of boleros - meltingly romantic traditional songs - and that is what he spent his last weeks recording.
Luckily, his death didn't prevent that dream being realised, as he'd left a cache of high-definition demos.
So here we are: sensitively backed by his superb group on piano, bass, guitar, and drums, and at one point poignantly joined by fellow veteran Omara Portuondo, Ibrahim calls to us from beyond the grave with inimitable grace.