Album of the Week: 'Natalie Cole en Espanol', by Natalie Cole
It's been four years since Natalie Cole received a kidney from a Salvadoran donor, and the singer says it not only connected her to Hispanic culture, but it also gave her the desire to record her first post-operation album - totally in Spanish.
Natalie Cole
Verve/Universal
It's been four years since Natalie Cole received a kidney from a Salvadoran donor, and the singer says it not only connected her to Hispanic culture, but it also gave her the desire to record her first post-operation album - totally in Spanish.
"I don't believe in coincidences. I believe everything happens for a reason. Because this was a Latin family, I feel like I'm part Latino now. That [made] the desire to make this record even stronger," Cole says of Natalie Cole en Español.
Produced by Cuban-American Rudy Perez, the 12-track album is a compilation of Latin American classics, plus a Spanish-language version of the Beatles' And I Love Her. It includes such titles as Solamente Una Vez by the late Mexican singer Agustin Lara, El Dia Que Me Quieras by Argentine Carlos Gardel and a medley of Voy a Apagar la Luz and Contigo Aprendi by Mexican Armando Manzanero, as well as two duets: Besame Mucho with Italian Andrea Bocelli, and Bachata Rosa with Dominican music legend Juan Luis Guerra.