Issac Delgado’s tribute to Nat King Cole

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Cuban singer Issac Delgado has just released a new CD that pays tribute to Nat King Cole. It’s called ‘LOVE.’ The World’s music critic Tom Schnabel gives it a listen. Download MP3

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LISA MULLINS: Finally today, the late and totally great, Nat King Cole recorded many albums, but only three of them were in Spanish. Not many people here in the US remember them. But in Latin America, those three albums were big hits. And now, they’re the inspiration for a new CD paying tribute to Nat King Cole by Cuban singer Issac Delgado. The CD is called Love. The World’s music critic Tom Schnabel has given it a listen.

TOM SCHNABEL:  I’m very happy to talk about Issac Delgado’s new tribute to Nat Cole. Nat Cole was very, very popular in Latin America and in the Caribbean, so it’s fitting that Issac Delgado, the wonderful lead singer of [SOUNDS LIKE] Y NG La Banda, would do this tribute to Nat Cole. We’re going to listen to “Quizas, quizas, quizas,” which means “perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.” I don’t think that Nat Cole had the best Spanish accent, but his version of “Quizas, quizas, quizas” is a classic, so let’s hear it first. And now let’s listen to Cuban crooner, Issac Delgado’s version of “Quizas, quizas, quizas” from the new album, Love. Two versions of “Quizas, quizas, quizas,” the first original version by Nat Cole and then Issac Delgado from Cuba. Another song from Issac Delgado’s new album of Nat Cole songs is called “Ay Cosita Linda,” which just means “pretty little thing.” He does a beautiful job with this and I always have loved the sound of his voice. He’s got a very, a very soft voice. The syllables are always rounded off, kind of like the way a lot of Cubans speak. They clip their words, but his voice, it has a very soft side and I think that’s why he’s so great singing these classic Nat Cole songs. The third and final song, though, I’d like to share with you I don’t think Nat Cole sang. At least not on his Spanish-language records. It’s a Broadway song written by Lerner and Loewe called “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” “A Su Mirar Me Acostumbre” is the Spanish translation and again, this is, just is so perfect you would almost think that this was a bolero or a sentimental song written originally in Spanish. It’s just such a perfect translation of the song and I love the way Issac Delgado handles it. I’m very happy that Issac Delgado recorded this album, Love, and I hope he records more albums because he has one of the best voices of all the Cuban singers.

MULLINS:  Commentary from Tom Schnabel of KCRW in Santa Monica, California, talking about Love by Cuban singer Issac Delgado and his tribute to Nat King Cole. From the Nan and Bill Harris studios at WGBH, I’m Lisa Mullins. Thanks for listening.

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