Known internationally as “La sonera del mundo”, the Cuban singer-songwriter Aymée Nuviola Suárez (1973) will premiere the album next Friday, February 24 Havana Nightmade up of thirteen songs by emblematic authors such as César Portillo de la Luz, Marta Valdés, Frank Domínguez, among others.
Under the musical production of Paulo Simeón and the pianist Kemuel Roig, Havana Night it is “an emotional journey to the perfect reflection of the spirit and music of a city”, affirms the musicographer Rosa Marquetti in the notes for the album.
In addition to Kemuel Roig, the musicians Lowell Ringel on bass, Hilario Bell on drumsJosé “Majito” Aguilera on percussion and Julián Ávila on guitar.
Pieces like “Me faltabas tú” and “Novia mía”, by José Antonio Méndez; “Reality and Fantasy”, by César Portillo de la Luz, “Rosa mustia”, by Ángel Díaz, and “El jamaiquino” by Niño Rivera, among others, are covered by Aymée Nuviola in this material that evokes the great figures of the movement filin and the bohemian nights of Havana in the 50s and 60s of the last century.
Regarding the official release of the album, OnCuba spoke briefly with the artist, who has won several Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards.
What has come to you from those Havana years of filin?
The Havana years of filin were part of the love story of my parents, who met at Moraima Secada’s house. My father, a bohemian singer, who never dedicated himself to music, but who in his youth used to be a faithful witness to these endless nights, transmitted to us the seeds of singing and downloading, things that my mother also enjoyed to the full. I am the fruit of a love that lived its Havana nights and I keep them forever.
What does this more intimate stop respond to? A little longing?
My musical soul needs to oxygenate and heal from time to time, and this is a way to do it and also enjoy the process. These songs bring me to the memory of the heart, memories, sensations and yes, longing to feel the magic with which the songs that sing of love surround you.
Tell me about the collaboration with Kemuel Roig. Is this your first time working together?
I have collaborated with Kemuel Roig on other occasions, in fact, he played the piano on all the songs that make up the album Without sauce there is no paradise which was nominated for Best Salsa Album by the Grammy Academy in 2021, and I also invited him to play some songs on the album First Class to Havana which earned a Grammy and a Latin Grammy nomination. His talent has always captivated me, I consider him a very balanced pianist and knowledgeable about music, his different styles and tendencies, as well as being an excellent jazz player. The musical arrangements that he made for this record place these songs within the latin jazz and they take me as a vocal interpreter along that path that attracts me so much and that I began to explore a few years ago.
|
In Havana Night, Aymée Nuviola returns to the city that is her own and alien at the same time; she does so now with an inevitable load of influences, memories and contributions that appeal to the universal, but also to her own essence, to the musical strengths that have always supported her and that tempt the magic of her voice. Walking the streets of a city that no longer exists, her ghosts will remind him at every step of the enormous debts of the bolero with that elusive city space, eternally and inevitably escorted by the sea… And the night. Rosa Marquetti (Notes for the album Havana Night by Aymée Nuviola) |
Could we also say that Havana Night is it a tribute album? Were 13 songs enough or could we wait for a second part?
nocturnal havana It’s a tribute album, definitely. It is a tribute to Havana nights, to the songs that have accompanied love for generations. It is a tribute to my memories, to my parents, to the sleepless nights in that nocturnal pilgrimage of bohemians like my father. Many records would be missing to capture all the songs that were part of those nights and that time. The possibility of continuing this musical work cannot be ruled out, but it is not a proposal at this time either. Let God dispose.
In the midst of so many classics you include a theme of your authorship. What inspires you right now?
I think I am a “filinera” of these times that I have had to live. I was able to reach to hold a little fluff from the filin and I stretched it until I was able to bring it with me and accommodate it in my space and in my time. I surrender to the power of these songs that have managed to survive times, different languages, generations and circumstances, while remaining beautiful, current and healing.
