Buena Vista Social Club's leading lady, Omara Portuondo, recently stopped by the NPR offices in Washington, DC, to perform an intimate concert, accompanied only by Roberto Fonseca on the keyboard, as part of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series. "Her performance here of two classic boleros was enough to transport us to another time and place," reports NPR's Felix Contreras. "Achingly tender and direct, her Tiny Desk Concert reflects the passion for life she instills in every performance."

Portuondo, whom Ry Cooder once described as “the Edith Piaf of Cuba,” sang two songs familiar to fans of the World Circuit / Nonesuch Buena Vista Social Club album and the rich collaborations that followed from it. First comes the lullaby "Drume Negrita," which Cooder performed with guitarist Manuel Galbán on the 2003 duo album Mambo Sinuendo, followed by "Dos Gardenias," the song that Portuondo so famously performed with the late Ibrahim Ferrer on the original Buena Vista Social Club album, captured on the Wim Wenders documentary of the same name and on the live recording Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall.

"So," Contreras suggest, "sit back and take in a brief but lovely performance by a timeless, ageless wonder." You'll find it at npr.org.

Portuondo will perform with Galbán and fellow Buena Vista stars Guajiro Mirabal (trumpet), Aguaje Ramos (trombone), and Barbarito Torres (laoud) in the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club on tour in the United States this June for three dates in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Further details will follow.