The Cubadisco International Fairthe main event of its kind on the Island, will recognize the artistic career of Americans Harry Belafonte and Barbara Dane with a special award, according to its organizers.
The event, whose 25th edition will take place from May 14 to 22will thus distinguish the work of both musicians, born in 1927, with an important performance in political and social activism and known links with the largest of the Antilles.
Belafonte, of Jamaican descent, triumphed as a singer and actor on stage, film and television, and is known as “the King of calypso”, for popularizing this Caribbean musical genre with hits such as “Day-O”. A social and human rights activist, he has traveled on numerous occasions to Cuba, whose authorities he was awarded the Friendship Medal and have recognized their support for the Island.
For her part, Barbara Dane is considered a legend of jazz, the blues and the folk, owner of a notable career in which she has recorded and produced numerous albums, has participated in television programs and has shared the stage with figures such as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Pete Seeger. She was the first American artist to perform in Cuba after the triumph of the 1959 revolution and since then she has returned several times. She is, moreover, the mother of renowned musician Pablo Menéndez, director of the group Mix.
The announcement of these special awards was made during the Cubadisco nominees gala, held this Friday in the Red Room of Havana’s Hotel Capri, in which the record and audiovisual productions that opt for the event’s awards in their different categories.
In total, more than 200 productions will compete for awards in sections such as songs, popular dance music, fusion and alternative music, concert music, jazz, trova and children’s music, as well as graphic and sound design, musicological notes, documentaries and concerts in live.
In addition, six albums aspire to the International Prize of the appointment, among them those of artists such as the Mexican Rosalía León, the Spanish Pilar Boyero, the Franco-Congolese Ray Lema and the Argentine-American Dominic Miller.
By the Cuban navy, the production The heirs. Tribute to Chucho Valdés and Irakerededicated to the award-winning Cuban artist, leads the nominations in jazz, and The Rose of Jerichoby singer Ivette Cepeda, does so in the song category.
While, Cha Cha Cha. Tribute to the traditional, by Cuban musicians Alain Pérez, Issac Delgado and the legendary Aragón orchestra, will compete in the “varied traditional” category. This latest album already won a Latin Grammy last year in the category of Best Traditional Tropical Album.
In the always competitive dance music, phonograms by important orchestras such as Elito Revé y su Charangón, Maykel Blanco y su Salsa Mayor, Alexander Abreu y Habana D’Primera and Pupy y los Que Son Son compete for the award.
While in the category of Alternative Music, they highlight the album The foodby Cimafunk, an artist who mixes Cuban rhythms with funk, and In F sharpby the already legendary band Interactivo, led by the pianist Robertico Carcassés.
Cubadisco, whose first edition was held in 1997, will be dedicated this year to the music of the United States, according to the Cuban Institute of Music and the Ministry of Culture, organizers of the event. The event will include a colloquium, exhibitions and a commercial fair to show the offers of the different Cuban record companies, as well as a special television program on the Clave channel of state television.
EFE / OnCuba.
