With a voice almost Piaf-like in it's passion, Omara Portioned's career had fallen on hard times when Ry Cooder, producer of the Grammy award winning Buena Vista Social Club recordings, happened to hear her sing. But the qualities Cooder so admired had matured over the decades and she was invited to participate on his Buena Vista Social Club project in 1995. Her wholeheartedness brought some of the most memorable and tender moments of the resulting album and feature film and the success of the album, of course, turned her life around. Here is a collection of her original singles from Cuba; they reveal a woman full of vigor, a woman who has never stopped performing, never stopped giving. Malanga. 2007.