si bastara una canción
The news that Castro is stepping down has me thinking about Cuban music. Old movies of old Havana watched years ago, a very little exposure in the meantime, the discovery of an amazing ex-pat bassist working a mundane day job locally, imagined and wished for rhythms and fusions: all these kicked in a craving to find out what’s really going on in Cuba.
Like many kids, my first exposure to Cuban music was re-runs of this:
Which is why this was both familiar and yet welcome:
Chan, Chan - Buena Vista Social Club
I’m barely beginning to learn about the current music scene in Cuba. One place I’ve been reading is Cuba Absolutely, but I’d welcome input from anyone in the know or willing to dig and share.
For now, here are some people I’d like to hear more from.
Everything Descemer Bueno does sounds different - here’s some nice bass work and traditional rhythmns. No wonder Haydee Milanes needed a lyrics cheat sheet to keep up:
La Lengua - Descemer Bueno
And Haydee on her own turf. I like her better than her band, but then, I’ve only started to listen.
Tu y yo - Haydee Milanes
And my favorite find: Carlos Varela. Like so many people I’ve run across recently, I’m embarassed that he’s a “find”. He’s tours here and in Europe, has played with Dylan and a host of others. (which would explain why the embargo didn’t keep him from getting a Taylor guitar) Here’s a couple of things.
First, an ode to Havana (embed no longer works, click through to youtube):
Habana me - Carlos Varela
and “La Palabra”, which is found on the sound track to Denzel Washington’s “Man on Fire”. I couldn’t find footage of Valera doing it, but it’s all over youtube otherwise. Something from the flick, of course, and a lot of soap opera overlays. (why do those exist?). That may be closer to Varela’s thinking on the song, but I find those unwatchable. Here’s this instead.
ETA:
In the comments below, reader Eastonwest posted a bio of Cuban muscian Nil Lara. Reading it, I was struck by the mention of the Cuban tres, an instrument I wasn’t aware of. I’d heard the sound and seen it, apparently, without realizing I wasn’t hearing and seeing a guitar. So I did a little digging and found this video edifying. A tres/guitar duel:
categories: music
tags: Carlos Valera, Cuba, Nil Lara, world music
posted by what at 03:00 am
Cool topic, What. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming U.S.A. administration interacts with the hopefully positive change
in Cuba (or vice versa!).
I also know very little about the Cuban
music scene, but one of my favorite World Music artists is Nil Lara. I don’t know if it’s permitted here to embed a video (or if it will even work), but I thought this one appropriate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxFYISm-ST0
………………..Biography from his website:……………….
Singer/songwriter Nil Lara combines experimental irreverence with a solid understanding of the global language of music. His songs embody both cross-cultural rhythms and popular music styles. The tracks on his self-titled debut album include emotional yet unsentimental expressions of universal themes of love, longing and loss; nostalgia; and biting meditations on this modern world. His rich, melodic vocals slide into rhythmic chants, the ascend into a keening, primal wail that renders the whole notion of crossover simply irrelevant: Lara is among the rare performers whose singing directly penetrates the soul.
Lara was born in Newark, New Jersey to Cuban immigrants but spent most of his childhood in Venezuela, where music lessons exposed him to that country’s folkloric traditions. At age eight, he learned how to play the cuatro and eventually graduated to the guitar. While studying microwave analysis at the University of Miami, Lara spent his spare time fine tuning his songwriting craft.
In its complexity and simplicity, Nil Lara’s music is a portrait of the singer himself. Its rhythms and melodies reflect the array of elements and events that have influenced his life. The music also foreshadows a gradual evolution, a melting pot for a new American sound.
A born musician with a blatant disregard for musical stereotypes, Lara fluently interchanges the Cuban three-toned tres guitar, the cuatro, a Venezuelan four-stringed instrument, the electric guitar and indigenous percussion instruments with an ease that overcomes any self-consciously ethnic sound. The singer, who habitually performs in bare feet, often invites Miami-based Haitian singers or Cuban percussionists to join him and his three piece band on stage. The informal excitement of Lara’s shows are fueled by his absorbing stage presence as well as by his brand of grass-roots eclecticism which he has cultivated for some time in the South Florida area.
“As a child, I used to watch live performances guajiro (Cuban country) artists and noticed a peculiar tonality which was present all the time. I later discovered that sound to be the tres. It wasn’t until I saw it and heard it in person that I fell for it and started enjoying it.”
Well, damn! The embed didn’t work, sorry. The song is “I Will Be Free” by Nil Lara (on youtube), if interested.
Great music, thank you — it introduces me more deeply to a genre that I had heard more “in passing”. (I’m familiar with the Buena Vista Social Club stuff but that was about all.)
The YouTube embed of “Habana Me” from Carlos Varela gives me the message that “this video is no longer available” when I click on it. I’ll go over to the site and see if it works there.
Sorry about the bad embed - that’s the problem with writing a post a few days in advance: things change. I made Varela’s “Habana me” click through to youtube, where it’s still available
EW - I edited your pointer to the Nils Lara video to click through. The embed syntax doesn’t work in comments here, just in posts, unfortunately. If you want clickable links, you can, but it has to be html. I’m liking the Nil Lara.
The “Old Cuba” music may well be better perserved in Florida than in current Cuba. There are still many local bands that play at local events in Tampa and Miami. Probably no one knows more about the state of Cuban influenced music (current and past) than Basil Rodriguez who has been an awesome trumpet player and band leader in Tampa for the last 30 years.
Compay Segundo the oldest musician in The Buena Vista Social Club wrote the world famous son song “Chan Chan”. His Cien Anos 100 Birthday celebration cd is wonderful.
Any fan of the irreplaceble and remarkable Ibrahim Ferrer should purchase his masterpiece Buenos Hermanos, as well as his Mi Sueno cd, a compilation of Boleros. It was always “his dream” to record an album of Boleros but he was told that his voice was too weak. The cd actually contains several demo recordings because died weeks before it’s release making it a deathbed request to move forward with the project and release his work.
Nil Lara performs at one nightclub in Miami but recently performed at the Bottom Line in NYC. Mama’s Chant is a personal favorite.
Thanks What for fixing the “kink in my link”. Uploaded a few Nil Lara songs from his 1996 cd, ‘Nil Lara’. It’s a real good cd, and he had a mild hit with “How Was I To Know”. These give a sampling of his musical style. I’m pretty certain that the cd is still in print and available for anyone interested.
“Baro”
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7tccs9
“Crawl”
http://www.sendspace.com/file/stzzdx
“Mama’s Chant”
http://www.sendspace.com/file/sd2dox
“My First Child”
http://www.sendspace.com/file/r4qni2
“Baby”
http://www.sendspace.com/file/8c1hum
“Vida Mas Simple”
http://www.sendspace.com/file/k5ppng
Current information on Nil is scarce. His website appears to be two years old. His MySpace page looks good, but not very newsworthy.
Nil’s cd is available on iTunes. I’m sure he would appreciate the purchase. Heather at fuelfriends.blogspot.com has an updated archive on Nil.
I wanted to say thanks to eastonwest and others for introducing me to Nil Lara. I’m going to miss this place.