The Cuban musician Lázaro García Gil, considered a genuine exponent of the troubadour song and founder of the movement of the New Trovapassed away this Friday, April 15, in his hometown of Cienfuegos, official media on the island reported.
At the time of his death, the artist was 74 years old, and had woven an outstanding career, during which he shared the stage and personal experiences with relevant figures of Cuban music and, in particular, of trova, such as Silvio Rodriguez, Paul MilanesVicente Feliú, Noel Nicola and Sara González, remembered when breaking the news the Cienfuegos radio station Radio City of the Sea (RCM).
During his career he received important awards and recognitions, among them the first and grand prize in the Adolfo Guzmán Contest, as well as the Distinction for National Culture. In addition, he received the UNEAC Music Prize for the Work of Life and the Youth Teacher Prize, awarded by the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS), according to the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM), which classifies him as “one of the most important and singular composers of the Cuban song».
According to the ICM, which does not specify the cause of death, by family decision the corpse of the troubadour would be cremated and veiled in an intimate ceremony.
García was also nominated in the Nueva Trova section at the 24th edition of the International Music Fair Cubadisco 2020-2021, with the phonogram as if it were yesterdayprecise RCMwhich also refers that the musician toured various countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain and France, where he was recognized for his beautiful lyrics and his authentic Cuban identity.
Throughout his fruitful career, the troubadour from Cienfuegos recorded six discs of his own and produced others by important Cuban figures of the genre, among them the aforementioned Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés and Vicente Feliú, as well as Miriam Ramos and Augusto Blanca.
His works were part of other musical recordings, some of them dedicated to children, such as The children sing with the trova, Children singing with Los Novos Y Most intermediate generationin which figures such as Ivette Cepeda, Buena Fe, Waldo Mendoza and Kike Corona collaborated, among other renowned singers, points out RCM.
Lázaro García also worked as a musical advisor for the Recording and Musical Editions Company (Egrem) and the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, and among his achievements he adds the foundation in Cienfuegos of the Eusebio Delfín recording studios, of which he was in charge. until 2003. Between 2004 and 2008 he assumed the direction of the Abdala studios in Havana, from where he supported the work of Cuban and international musicians.
After being informed about his death, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel lamented from his Twitter account the death of the troubadour “whose work, marked by love poetry, reveals his noble soul and also committed to the highest patriotic values”
Farewell to the great troubadour Lázaro García, a very Cuban Cienfuegos, whose work, marked by love poetry, reveals his noble soul and also committed to the highest patriotic values. pic.twitter.com/HbMHfBPNH5
– Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) April 15, 2022
Numerous personalities and institutions of Cuban culture, such as the UNEAC and the House of the Americasalso expressed heartfelt condolences for the death of Lázaro García, and highlighted his musical career.
