Albita:hecho A Mano(hand Made) [Audio CD] Albita

This Havana-born, Miami-based singer-songwriter has already made quite a splash. Two-time Grammy nominee Albita Rodriguez is a former protégé of Emilio Estefan and numbers both Bill Clinton (she sang at his second inaugural ball) and Madonna (who has said, "In my next life, I'm coming back as Albita") among her most ardent fans. Her songs are a crafty amalgam of a Cuban country style called punto guajiro, nueva trova ballads, blistering salsa horn charts, Afro-Cuban chants, Buena Vista-style son, and American jazz. On this 2002 release, the title of which translates as "handmade," she avoids the fatuous pop hooks that nearly sideswiped her a couple of albums back and concentrates on what she does best: the music of passion. She is unconquerably female whether she is pleading, lashing out, or exulting in requited love. Accompanied by a happening quintet of fellow expats, her rough-edged, smoky voice growls, purrs, and soars. --Christina Roden