By Patrick Luce Oct 6, 2006, 15:33 GMT
Two decades of signature U.S. and international hits by the five-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, producer Gloria Estefan are being gathered for the first time on ‘The Essential Gloria Estefan’ – a two-CD collection that features 37 songs. The CD is in stores now.
The release of ‘The Essential Gloria Estefan’ anticipates the October 10th arrival of her second children’s book, ‘Noelle’s Treasure Tale: A New Magically Mysterious Adventure’ (Rayo/HarperCollins, illustrated by Michael Garland). It is the sequel to last year’s Mysterious Adventures of Noelle the Bulldog, which was a major hit on the New York Times best-seller list for Children’s Books.
Few (if any) contemporary artists possess the body of work that can be divided between one entire disc of uptempo dance club and remix material and a second CD of ballads – but that is the case with ‘The Essential Gloria Estefan.’ Spanning the years 1984-85, when the Big Bang of Latin pop crossover began with the first two English language LPs by Miami Sound Machine – ‘Eyes Of Innocence’ with “Dr. Beat” and ‘Primitive Love’ with “Conga” – all the way through her most recent English language album, 2003’s ‘Unwrapped,’ the non-chronological collection shuffles the chapters of Gloria Estefan’s musical life with bravura and finesse.
Gloria Estefan, who has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide and has accumulated honors ranging from the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement and the National Music Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year, to the MTV VMA and Cable ACE Award, with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and two honors from the Songwriters Hall of Fame – among many other prestigious awards – is an American role model known around the world. The Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor that she received in 1993, the highest honor that can be given to a naturalized U.S. citizen, is a symbol of the esteem in which she is held and an indication of how far she has come since arriving on these shores in early 1959, at just 16 months old.
‘The Essential Gloria Estefan’ is now available at Amazon. Visit the music database for more information and a complete track listing.
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