MADRID, Spain.- The renowned Spanish singer-songwriter Melendi, visiting Miami to promote his “Likes y Cicatrices” tour, spoke with Newspaper Las Americas about his relationship with Cuba, a country to which he feels attached, among other reasons, because his paternal grandfather was Cuban.
“My grandfather was Cuban, from Camagüey, but I never met him. My dad was born in Asturias and so was I, but I grew up in an Indian house, that is the name there for houses that are built the same as those in Cuba, but we have them in northern Spain, ”he explained.
Just as he pointed out that his great-uncles always talked about Cuba, so he has always “been in that imaginary.”
The musician, who has visited Miami on numerous occasions, said that the first time he visited the city he felt that “there was a special connection with the Cubans” and “that it reminds him of his roots.”
“There is something bigger than all of us and that is evident. I have been coming to Miami for years. And ever since I stepped foot here, I noticed that something was happening with Cuba. In theory it is not tangible to the senses, however, it is something that is there”, the author of popular songs such as “Your garden with dwarfs”, “Fate or chance” and “A violinist on your roof” specified.
On the topic “Pan para Yolanda”, which he premiered a few months ago with the Cuban singer Aymée Nuviola and which is another of the reasons for his trip to Miami, he said that it is one of the songs he feels “especially proud” of. .
“This song is an island because it is not part of any project. It arose more than six months ago when I came to Miami to work. I have a producer here. My musical director, the composers I get together with, and two of my musicians are Cuban, so we always talk about certain things. And in that meeting some verses began to come out. As a result of those verses we pulled the thread and we were left with a song that speaks, from a beautiful point of view, of a very delicate subject, a point of view that generates beautiful emotions and is complicated, ”he recounted.
About this collaboration Nuviola had explained to CubaNet that she received a call from Melendi inviting her to participate in the project. She subsequently sent him the draft of the song, which she “loved her, she moved him from the start”.
“For a long time I wanted to do something that reflected the reality of Cuba, but that was done with love, and that’s why I liked this song… that speaks of the reality of Cuba with nostalgia and emotional charge,” said Nuviola.
Regarding the song’s tribute to Pablo Milanés, the Spanish singer-songwriter told Newspaper Las Americas: “After the premiere, his manager (Milanés’s) contacted a mutual friend and told me that he liked it a lot, and he thanked me. And the truth is that when I heard the news of his death, I felt something heavy inside, because I admired him as an artist. (…) We greeted each other, we were neighbors, we lived 15 minutes from each other, but I didn’t have a chat with him, I would have loved it”.
As part of his “Likes y Cicatrices” tour, Melendi will offer concerts on February 26 and March 9 at the Miami-Dade Arena.
