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Pete Perignon’s orchestra kicked off Aymée Nuviola’s concert, entitled Corazón Sonero, with a powerful Latin jazz introduction. During the first minute, the instrumental melody settled into a salsa key, giving way to the voices of Lorna Marcano and Ricely Colón, who chanted: “Yo te invito a bailar y a gozar con Aymée, la sonera del mundo” (I invite you to dance and enjoy with Aymée, the sonera of the world). The chorus duo of Marcano and Colón prepared the theater for the triumphant entrance of the voice of La Sonera del Mundo.

As the curtain rose at the historic Alejandro Tapia y Rivera Theater in Old San Juan, the stage design by José “Quenepo” Ramos Vega, which revealed two transparent fabric borders held in the middle by an imposing white star, caught the attention of the audience. The red of the triangle of the Cuban flag was represented by the pendant unfurled to the left of the star, while the cloth representing the Puerto Rican flag was held on the right hand side of the same star. The inspiration of the design demonstrates that the Cuban and Puerto Rican flags are fraternal twins.

The opening lyric that resounded in the theater, which was filled to capacity, with the vocal power of Aymée Nuviola read: “A little bit of good salsa, a little bit of pure salsa, so that new people, get to know our culture”. From then on, the music obeyed Nuviola’s command, singing: “Let the clave get into your body, let the conga and the bongo move the floor”. Sure enough, three hours later we were still letting the stage delivery of the musical team continue to move the floor. Pete masterfully directed: Jean Carlos Camuñas on tumbadoras, Carlos Pagán on bongó, campana, güiro and maracas, Miguel Camilo on piano, Jorge Rivera on bass, Pedro Marcano and Víctor Ambert on trumpets, César Ayala and Léster Pérez on trombones and Saviel Cartagena on tenor and soprano saxophones.

Ten minutes into the music under the direction of the leader of the generation of the present, as timbalero Pete Perignon is known on Puerto Rican soil, Aymée greeted the audience with a heartfelt, “¡Buenas noches, Puerto Rico!” She thanked the attendees in a candid manner for joining her, while making jokes about how heavy her dress was as she elegantly adjusted the flounce and wings of her sleeves. She also commented on the design of the theater, inaugurated in 1832.

That first conversation with the audience served to connect with a: “we are survivors”, in clear reference to the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly before quoting Celia Cruz saying: “As Celia said so well: ‘Thank you Puerto Rico, for lending me your flag’. She also recognized actor Willy Denton, who played Pedro Knight when Aymée impersonated Celia Cruz in the soap opera Celia and who was among those present.

Nuviola boasted of having reached the fifth floor, as she recounted that she was going to record her version of ‘El ratón’ with Cheo Feliciano, whose unexpected death thwarted the long-awaited collaboration. However, Aymée decided to record it anyway, in order to pay tribute to Señor Sentimiento. The evening’s repertoire included: ‘Un poco de salsa’, ‘Salsa con timba’, ‘Yo sé que es mentira’, ‘El ratón’, ‘La tierra del olvido’ and ‘La gota fría’.

Many remember Aymée for her character of Celia Cruz in an acting performance that marked “a before and after” in the singer’s career. This was acknowledged by the actress, shortly before paying tribute to Celia, with her versions of ‘Cúcala’ and ‘Quimbara’, in addition to performing a medley of some of the songs with which Celia was crowned the Queen of Salsa. The medley included ‘Toro mata’ and ‘Bemba colorá’, among others.

The concert included a bohemian part during which Aymée accompanied herself on the classical piano to share with us her passion for the filin. The selected repertoire was: ‘Obsesión’, ‘Bésame mucho’, ‘Me faltabas tú’, ‘Perfidia’ and ‘Lágrimas negras’.

Before performing ‘El espacio’, of her own composition, and accompanied by Miguel Camilo on piano, Aymée said that the song was inspired by “someone else’s skeleton”, as the composer described it. Aymée emphasized that ‘El espacio’ is not dedicated to her husband. Between jokes and laughter, the sonera shared with those present her love story with Paulo Simeón, while acknowledging the presence of Fabio Díaz Vilela, who was the owner of the place where the couple met more than 14 years ago. Aymée expressed her gratitude to Fabio, for also having been a great support for the career of the producer, “from day one”.

The climax of the concert came as the sonera took off ‘El cuarto de Tula’, Gilberto Santa Rosa -who was among the attendees- went up on stage to duet with Aymée, between each soneo to describe the scope of the talent of the Cuban who gave her sonero heart to Puerto Rico. El Caballero de la Salsa was also able to tell La Sonera del Mundo the fascination that the Puerto Rican public has for her. For their part, Aymée’s soneos expressed to Gilberto the admiration she has for him for being “a great maestro”.

The repertoire of this last section included the songs ‘Fiesta’ and ‘El manisero’, which incorporated correspondences between the singer and the pianist. The coda of ‘El manisero’ coincided with the closing of the curtain, while the audience shouted “another, another, another”. The ñapa corresponded to ‘Chan chan’, a song included in the album that won Nuviola a Grammy for his production A Journey through Cuban Music. The interpretation was sprinkled with the strength brought by the trumpets of Pedro Marcano and Víctor Ambert, along with the trombones of César Javier Ayala and Léster Pérez. Chan Chan’ announced the farewell with which Aymée Nuviola’s energetic “God bless Puerto Rico” resounded as the curtain came down on her first solo concert on Puerto Rican soil. For my part, I reciprocate: “God bless Aymée Nuviola and her team (including Paulo Simeón and Luis Solís)”.

Here in the Island of Enchantment we are pleased to know that Corazón Sonero has consolidated this high-end artist, whom we already consider our own.

Images: Conrado Pastrano

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