Giving the note

Vinyl records did not always come (do they come?) accompanied by notes about their content. As the inside book is not frequent in this format, there are only two surfaces left (front and back cover) in which it is not usual to find detailed information beyond the credits. At least, that's how it was in Cuba, where we rarely had the luxury of something more spacious in visual terms. However, there are vinyls that do have presentation texts, such as Días y Flores by Silvio Rodríguez, for example, that has the words of the author himself.

But where really the specialized commentaries have rested for their respects in Cuban discography is at the time of the compact disc. Many, I would say that most of the CDs that have been produced in Cuba between 1993 and today (that year marks the date of the first national productions in this format), have in their inner book or booklet what we call discographic notes here. Sometimes loaded with lyricism, others with anecdotes, many in a musicological or musicographic mood, some authentic literary pieces; the notes had -whether they succeeded or not- various objectives, depending on the author or whoever ordered them, whether it was the interpreter or the record company: to interest the possible buyer in the "musical product", expand the context information to make the listening a more informed one; even complement the atmosphere that the music proposed (be part of the experience, we would say today).

The truth is that in the majority of cases -for not being absolute-, discographic notes today sleep the dusty dream of shelves and boxes in houses or warehouses, or they get bored in obsolete digital folders. In view of the economic difficulties that complicated the production of phonograms in Cuba years ago, some were never even printed, and most of them streaming He finished giving them the final stab. Exceptionally some music lover with luck returns to put their eyes on them.

Thinking about this, about how much and how good has been written about Cuban music in the notes of our vinyl records and compact discs, we set out, in this new section, to bring you Cuban records of any era through "the voices" that presented them at the time. Accompanied by the music, of course, but also by the credits, whenever they are available, it will be like relaunching these phonograms, listening to them sharing headphones with Marta Valdés, Leonardo Acosta, Sigfredo Ariel or the interpreter himself. It will be a musical trip in unbeatable company.

Cubadisco Awards for Discographic Notes (2002-2018)