Researcher William Navarrete, author of the new book Cuba, homeland and music, a trip around the Island through music from the 19th century to the present, says that the song Homeland and Life, Winner of two Latin Grammys, she has “put Cuba on the bandwagon of modernity after 80 dark years.”
“Now everything fits, I think that the less modern will have to adjust, accept all these contemporary expressions that the most purists find appalling, but they have a great acceptance in the young population, which is the one that actually takes the baton,” says Navarrete in an interview with Efe.
“Homeland and Life falls like a glove right now. It is vital to draw attention to what is happening in Cuba, which has practically remained in the 19th century, “he added.
Cuba, homeland and music, from the publishing house Unos & Otros, from Miami, which will be presented for the first time in this city on December 22, part of a previous book on Cuban music written by Navarrete in French. That volume ran until 1959 and several readers asked the author for a continuation.
“The motivation was to talk about the reunion of Bebo Valdés with (his son) Chucho Valdés in the documentary by Fernando Trueba, the fabulous records of Bebo Valdés with El Cigala”
“It was missing to know what was happening outside and the way in which Cuban music is regenerated abroad. Salsa would not have emerged if there had not been so many Cuban musician exiles,” he says emphatically.
According to this 53-year-old journalist, novelist and poet, of whom 30 have lived in Paris, “the phenomenon” of Homeland and Life, who won the Latin Grammys for best song and best urban song of 2021, was not the main motivation to update his book The Cuban song: 1902-1959 (texts and contexts), but other paths, such as including the death of Olga Guillot or the funeral of Celia Cruz.
“The motivation was to talk about the reunion of Bebo Valdés with (his son) Chucho Valdés in the documentary by Fernando Trueba, the fabulous albums of Bebo Valdés with El Cigala, all that I had to add so that it was complete until 2021. Homeland and Life It was the culmination, “he said.
Navarrete, who at the age of 25 ordered by genres while the music department of the French chain of stores FNAC worked there, says that this book is a tribute “to the people who have to leave their country for certain reasons.”
“It is not a journey through history, it is a book of humanism, it is the story of people who have to leave their country for political, economic, emotional reasons; emigrate, go elsewhere and rebuild their lives in another place and start from scratch practically “.
The author notes that “all (the musicians) have not been Paquito d’Rivera or Gonzalo Ruvalcaba. So, it is a book to trace that history and that way in which Cuban music has remained outside of Cuba, to such an extent and with so many representatives that it could even be considered an independent movement. “
“It’s the 70’s, that was very ugly after the Stalinist process that was the trial of (the writer Heberto) Padilla, and that marks a dark period of 10 years in Cuban music (…), except the glorification of the Nueva Trova “
In the chapter “The gray decade of Cuban music,” which paraphrases the so-called “gray five-year period of culture” that occurred on the island between 1970 and 1975, Navarrete looks into what happened in parallel with music in Miami.
“It’s the 70’s, that was very ugly after the Stalinist process that was the trial of (the writer Heberto) Padilla, and that marks a dark period of 10 years in Cuban music (…), except the glorification of the Nueva Trova “, explains Navarrete.
“It coincides with the rebirth of Cuban music outside the country with the Cuban-Americans. That’s when Miami Sound Machine begins, Willy Chirino … They are the children of Cubans raised in Florida. In fact, Gloria Estefan’s first album in Spanish is called Be reborn. It was very premonitory “, he expands on this section collected in his book.
“At a time when Cuba was stagnating, a new phenomenon was being reborn here with the Cuban-Americans, with a Miami sound, which is called that, “says the author.
“This book was initially to be called With your music elsewhere, but in French it didn’t work. It would have worked in Spanish; However, it took me 20 years to get it out in Spanish, “explains Navarrate, who needed to rewrite it when updating it.” I was not going to allow it to be translated, Spanish being my mother tongue it was my turn to write it again, so I felt free “, comments.
Navarrete includes in his volume a little-known story, “the moment they discover Compay Segundo”, which he claims was a festival in Nantes (France) in 1995. “I speak of the phenomenon because I witnessed an interesting moment, the moment when that they discover Compay Segundo, that’s why the photo of him is with me “, says the author in reference to the Les Allumées festival in Nantes, which that year was dedicated to Cuban culture.
It occurs to them to hold a round table on human rights and democracy in Cuba. In response, the Cuban Ministry of Culture did not let anyone go to the festival that had all the tickets sold. The only one who arrived was Compay Segundo, who was a stranger and was playing in Europe at a timbiriche “.
“When he arrived in Nantes,” recalls Navarrete, “all the press focused on him; he became the Cuban star. People discovered his songs and then he released his first album. That is the germ of Buena Vista Social Club,” he said. the author.
“I hope you find a new artist or song to add to your own playlist.”
On the other hand, the video clip of the song It exceeded 10 million views this Thursday on YouTube, where it was released last February 17. In addition, the musical theme had been included at the beginning of the month in the list of the 50 best songs of 2021 published each year by the American magazine Rolling stone, ranking 30th.
Former United States President Barack Obama published, as every December, his personal selection of books, films and music that he most enjoyed during the year and topped the list of songs Homeland and Life.
“I’ve always loved listening to a wide variety of music, so it’s no wonder I’ve heard a bit of everything this year,” Obama wrote on Instagram when presenting the selection that includes another topic in Spanish, I returned, interpreted by Adventure and Bad Bunny. “I hope you find a new artist or song to add to your own playlist.”
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