GLORIA ESTEFAN

Realizing a longtime dream with her take on timeless tunes   

 Since her 1985 breakthrough with the Miami Sound Machine, Gloria Estefan’s hits like “Anything for You,” “1-2-3” and “Live for Loving You” have added a Cuban flavor to pop success that’s made the Havana-born songstress a household name.

After more than 20 albums, Estefan’s latest is a far cry from her early kinetic dance grooves. On the aptly titled The Standards, Estefan, along with Shelly Berg, dean of the University of Miami Frost School of Music, delves into the Great American Songbook for a lush collection of Tin Pan Alley classics. She not only adapts English lyrics to Brazilian Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar,” but also turns Charlie Chaplin’s immortal “Smile” into a sensual affirmation in both Spanish and Italian. Estefan, 56, also displays her vocal skills in French and Portuguese.

The project has been a dream for the seven-time Grammy winner since she performed “Good Morning Heartache” on her first Tonight Show appearance in 1985 while promoting her first smash, “Conga.” “They asked us to do a second song,” she recalls, “so I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to show people what I love to do—something completely different from what I’m doing here.’”

She’s been surprising audiences ever since. On The Standards she enlists Italian singer-songwriter Laura Pausini on “Smile,” and sax ace Dave Koz on “How Long Has This Been Going On” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell adds his rich tones on Argentinean idol Carlos Gardel’s “The Day You Say You Love Me,” included because it was Estefan and husband Emilio’s wedding dance song.

You sang live during production.

This genre was always recorded that way because the technology didn’t exist. You get something very special when you perform live with other musicians—things happen that don’t when I’m just putting my voice on one track. Each time we performed, something else would come.

Why this album, and why now?

This genre is my heart. This is what I listened to growing up. This is what I played on my guitar for my mom and dad, from Johnny Mathis to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. When I grew up, I always planned to do something like this, but I was waiting for the right moment and the right idea. Two years ago I was at a trustee dinner for the University of Miami, and Shelly Berg sat at the piano and said, “Come on, Gloria, let’s do a song together!” I rarely do that, but I wasn’t going to be a stick-in-the-mud. So I said, “Do you know ‘Good Morning Heartache’?” As we performed, and I saw his passion and the feeling I got, the whole thing unfolded in my head—I saw the album in front of me. It’s my first album that I’ve produced completely, and it’s been my baby from inception.

How did you select the songs?

I literally went through thousands of titles and narrowed it down to 50 that meant something to me. The only thing I could possibly bring to these standards that have been done by the cream of the crop is to bring my own experience, heart and style to the performances. So I downloaded five to six different versions of the songs I had chosen. Shelly and I selected the 16 we recorded. Then I just sang it from the heart and let it fly!

Is it intimidating singing songs that have become classics?

Yes, it’s daunting—but taking risks, it’s what we do in our career. Every time you put out an album, you’re setting yourself up. It’s the nature of the business. So the biggest compliment I got was from Chuck Berghofer, the bassist who played with all the greats of the genre. He told me they thought I had done the consummate version of “Good Morning Heartache.” That to me was ridiculous, but beautiful to hear!

Five languages, how’d you do that?

French was my minor in college. I brought my daughter’s French teacher to make sure—I wanted it to be the best it could be. Then I brought in my daughter-in-law’s father, who’s from Milan, when I was doing the Italian version, to make sure the pronunciation was right. I wrote the Spanish version of “Smile,” which is something unique—I was able to write with Chaplin! I sang it for Geraldine Chaplin, and she cried and said she loved it more in Spanish than in English. I do have, fortunately, a world audience, and I wanted to make it more of a world-focused album.

What’s your approach to songs in different languages? 

In Spanish, for example, there is no way of being overly romantic or passionate. Even in the melodies you need more space to get an idea across. In English you have to use more restraint, because it becomes saccharine. You have to be more concise in the meaning. When I’m writing in each language, I can approach it directly from that language, because I’m bilingual. Because I sing in Spanish, I have different phrasings in English that might not occur to a person who only speaks English because it’s not in their vocabulary. So it really does extend my possibilities.

Did any songs test you?

The whole album did because I knew I was going to do it live, and I wanted to keep the liveness. I’ve been working with a new vocal coach, Torb Pedersen, who gave me a new way of looking at certain things neurologically—the physical nature of your throat and how to use those muscles. I started preparing for it a year before, really being in top, top vocal performance shape. It’s not the same in ballads as when you’re singing uptempo songs, where you’re singing like a machine gun. It’s much easier to sing fast songs.

So you can’t fake a ballad.

You have to be able to really do it. You have to be able to sustain the note and not choke it off. And to really emote, you want to be in control of your instrument.

Are you touring behind this record?

I did my last major tour in 2004, and now I do one-offs and things. I’m going to do the Royal Albert Hall in England, and I’m doing a concert in Basel, Switzerland. I would love to do that kind of thing, maybe eventually in the States, like maybe Carnegie Hall or Radio City.

But not a daily grind?

No, I can’t do that anymore. It’s grueling, and I’m at a different point in my life now. I really want to enjoy my grandbaby and my mom. And Emilio and I run a lot of businesses. It’s a handful! Let the up-and-coming performers do it. When I was in my 20s I told Emilio, “I’m going to work really hard so one day I don’t have to.” And oddly it’s not that I’m working less, but I’m able to choose luxuriously what I do and when I do it. To me music has always been an emotional thing. It’s never been about, “Let me be famous and put out a hit record so we can make money.” We got lucky that we enjoyed some wonderful years in the industry. Art has always been done for the sake of art. If you can find a way to make a living at it, that’s fantastic. But an artist is going to need to share that with the world. That’s the whole point of being an artist.

–Bob Cannon