Cuban night

Last night I went to see Omara Portuondo in concert here in Barcelona, together with my class mates Vikram, Alec, Christina and Yohei. For those of you who don't know Omara: she is one of Cuba's best known musicians having gained international fame following the movie Buena Vista Social Club. On the occasion of her new album Gracias she is now touring the globe accompanied by Uruguayan singer and songwriter Jorge Drexler.

The concert was amazing. The audience received Omara with standing ovations, and the following two hours were truly beautiful and touching. Omara performed many songs from her new album, but also looked back at her long career spanning over 60 years - and things became particularly emotional when she sang her major success Veinte anos and paid homage to Ibrahim Ferrer by performing Dos gardenias. Will see whether I can find those songs online to share them with you! The musicians that accompanied Omara were equally amazing - both the pianist, two percussionists, guitarist and the double-bass player ventured off into several breathtaking improvised solos. Simply overwhelming.

After the concert, we headed up to Gràcia for mojitos at Raim, supposedly making the best ones in town. Interestingly each Barcelona neighborhood seems to have a bar offering the best mojitos... Does that mean Barcelona collectively outperforms the rest of Spain in mixing Cuban cocktails? Anyway, great evening and I do hope to be able to see Omara Portuondo in concert again!

Omara Portuondo and Jorge Drexler


Yohei, Alec and Vikram


Christina and yours truly