Carmen Flores

After twenty years, Carmen Flores, the "Ebony Fire," is back and more powerful than ever!

Carmen Flores — indisputably one of the best voices in Cuba today, continues to captivate her audiences with a voice so powerful, she often sings without a michrophone. In her latest album, Babalu, Carmen Flores performs various popular genres of Cuban music including Afro-Cuban son, boleros, guaracha, afro, and pregon. The album is composed of selected pieces that her fans have requested and that brought about her fame, such as her version of "Siguaraya," "Angelitos Negros," "El Yerbero," and "Babalu y Tabu."

Although Carmen Flores has performed as a soloist for various recordings produced under labels such as EGREM and BIS Music, this is her first solo album in 20 years. Within the varied ambrosia of songs in Babalu there is an energy being transmitted, the essence of the album, which can only be defined as "Afro" — the style of music that releases the life and strife of Afro-Cubans, their aspirations, frustrations, and spirituality.

It is through this expression that Carmen Flores, with her impressive voice and immense love of music, has become an archetype in this genre — a genre for which she has set the standard. —Courtesy Calabash Music