“Celia Cruz, who died yesterday of brain cancer at 78, was one of the great singers of the century. Her voice inspired awe, her phrasing was unimpeachable, her output was prodigious and she had more of the ineffable quality sabor than perhaps any other singer in the history of Latin music. Sabor means flavor, but in this context it translates best as swing, and that’s what she did – swing hard – for 50 glorious years. She was the Aretha Franklin of salsa, the unchallenged queen. She practically invented the genre, and then went on to perfect it.”