Jose Feliciano says the best part of recording his latest CD, “Jose Feliciano y Amigos,” was teaming up with Luis Fonsi, Marc Anthony and others for the first time.
“It is always good to make new friends. And one of the best moments in the studio was recording the music with my good friend Rudy Perez,” Feliciano said in a recent interview. “Rudy and I sang together on one song, the one that opens the CD, `Cosas del Amor.’
“It was all positive. With Lupillo Rivera, for example, I think we enjoyed a new friendship in singing a duet on the song `Un Mundo Raro.”‘
The classic ranchera was written by Jose Alfredo Jimenez, the late, great songwriter whom Rivera and Feliciano have admired for years.
“Did you know I played the accordion on that song? Actually I played the accordion on two songs. The accordion was the first instrument I played, when I was 7 years old.”
The CD includes one of Selena’s big hits from her last studio album, “Amor Prohibido.” The tune, written by Ricky Vela, is the bittersweet ranchera “No Me Queda Mas.”
The theme mirrors the story line in Pedro Infante’s famous heartbreaker “Cien Anos,” in which the spurned lover declares that despite being left in solitude, he walked away richer for the experience.
“I think that song was the saddest song on the album,” Feliciano said.
“It was sad for the story, but also because it reminded me a lot of Selena. I never had the opportunity to share a stage with her.”
Other featured artists on the CD include Christian Castro, Ramon Ayala, Ricardo Montaner, Luciano Pereyra and Raul Di Blasio.
Feliciano, now 61, hasn’t slowed down despite more than a half-century of recording and touring. Besides his current Spanish-language CD, he also has a busy tour schedule and several projects in the works, including collaborating with a symphony in Palm Springs, Calif.
In February, he is releasing “Soundtracks of My Life,” his first English-language studio album in five years.
“`Soundtracks of My Life’ is an album full of all-original material.
![The Arlington Heights Village Board granted developers of the planned Arlington 425 project in downtown Arlington Heights another construction-related extension – making this at least the second one – even as financing for the work has still not been secured. The mixed-use development, planned for 225 W. Campbell St., has been in the works for five years. “We’re looking to get it going,” Stephen Messutta, general counsel for Norwood Builders of Park Ridge, told the board at the April 15 meeting. The developer requested a zoning extension for the proposed redevelopment on the longtime empty land parcel located just steps […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2023/05/09/E6SSECNLL5F4JLRU4GG4CNMQ2A.jpg?w=535 "The Arlington Heights Village Board granted developers of the planned Arlington 425 project in downtown Arlington Heights another construction-related extension – making this at least the second one – even as financing for the work has still not been secured. The mixed-use development, planned for 225 W. Campbell St., has been in the works for five years. “We’re looking to get it going,” Stephen Messutta, general counsel for Norwood Builders of Park Ridge, told the board at the April 15 meeting. The developer requested a zoning extension for the proposed redevelopment on the longtime empty land parcel located just steps […]")
