Cat No 68856

Chavela Vargas is 87 years old and is a living legend of Mexico. This is her new studio recording, performing new versions of her great classics, with a bonus DVD. For many years she has dreamed of recording this album - recording her songs accompanied by traditional Mexican instruments .On this album Chavela blends the world of the Boleros and Canciones Rancheras with the prehispanic world of the Mexican indigenous people. The sounds of the Indian instruments such as rattles, ‘teponatzli’ (wooden slit-drum), shells and drums fit very well with the Spanish guitars.

“Cupaima”’ means ‘the last female ‘shaman’. The album is her legacy - a fare-well. She gave her last concert in Mexico City in Oktober 2006 in the sold-out Teatro de la Ciudad and finished her 50 year stage career. Chavela Vargas has a mystic charisma, but also a strong, direct humanity, which touches many people. She has passed all ups and downs in her life: the success on stage, the friendship with people like Frida Kahlo and Pedro Almodóvar, the abyss of the alcohol addiction and the escape from these depths. Her songs tell about all this. Chavela Vargas' optical trademark is the ‘jorongo’, the Indian poncho, which she has been wearing on stage since the 1960s. Although she was born in 1919 in Costa Rica, Mexico became her real home country - and the land of her greatest success from the 1950s onwards.

On the bonus DVD, there is an interview with Chavela Vargas, covering her long life and many memories. The DVD also contains live-recordings from the album studio sessions. The DVD is subtitled in English and the booklet of the album contains all song lyrics in Spanish and English plus detailed English liner notes.