Estefan shows off the explosive sounds of Cuban music in "Alma Caribeña"

(CNN) -- Before Ricky Martin got the international pop community dancing to "la Vida Loca," Gloria Estefan was burning up the international charts with "Conga," "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" and other Latin-infused pop singles.

Combining her high-energy pieces with love songs like "Don't Wanna Lose You" and "Words Get in the Way," Estefan has made a successful solo transition from fronting the Miami Sound Machine. She's also emerged triumphant from a 1990 tour-bus crash that almost killed her.

Now, in "Alma Caribeña" ("The Soul of the Caribbean"), her first Spanish-language album since 1992's "Mi Tierra" ("My Homeland"), the Grammy-winning diva returns to her Cuban roots with an explosive celebration of the sounds and rhythms of the Caribbean.

Estefan described the album as "very passionate, all about love, very sensual."

	AUDIO
"No Me Dejes De Querer" 224K MP3 or 320K WAV sound (Sound courtesy Sony)
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Biography: Gloria Estefan

"'Alma Caribeña' is an album of fusion," she told WorldBeat correspondent Bruno Del Granado. "We wanted to move ahead from 'Mi Tierra.' The players, the producers and the writers on this record are like a United Nations of Latin America."

Sticking to that theme, Estefan directed the video for the first single, "No Me Dejes De Querer," which was shot inside a casino.

"I wanted to have a lot of Cuban things like the cigars, the tile floor, the two-toned shoes, the Cuban square dancing, as I call that," Estafan said.

The song blends new and old Cuban sounds, she said. "It's salsa," Estefan said. "It's got a kind of mogar feel in certain spots ... It's got this old Cuban rhythm that was used in old Cuban records, where all of a sudden a soloist is presented in the middle of this love song."

Estefan said she welcomes and appreciates her international audience. "Regardless of culture or language, they really enjoy the album," she said. "And that to me, is the best thing."