June Panorama: Cuba
We are tired of saying that what we are experiencing in Cuba cannot get any worse, and it turns out that each month exceeds the previous one. The shortage of food and products, inflation, the precariousness of public transport, covid-19 and dengue that threaten again and, as if that were not enough, the gradual deterioration of the electricity service. All this aggravated by the heat, very hot. The opening of some consular services at the United States Embassy brings a sliver of hope to some Cubans who, unfortunately, only think of emigrating. Meanwhile, we hear through unofficial media that many of those who try illegally die trying to cross the borders. Cancer recently snatched Alexis Díaz de Villegas, the leading actor in the Cuban film Juan of the Dead, and the poet Fina García-Marruz left us, she almost 100 years old. Among so many reasons for anxiety, we seek encouragement in music, and we continue to create spaces to relax tensions and be busy doing what we are passionate about: art.
Sweet Lizzy Project, the Cuban pop-rock band based in Nashville, United States since 2017, has just launched the single that gives name to his second and new record production Pirate Radio / Pirate Radio. A song with incredible strength, which defends the ideals of freedom and uses the text as a weapon against censorship and oppressive control. “They can decide what is forbidden, change the channel, the signal for noise, always tell me no, but they will never turn off my pirate radio”. The phonogram, with 11 songs, will be published in English and Spanish, one more achievement for this band that intends to open a space in the difficult Anglo-Saxon rock circuit.
MORE RELEASES
PAUZA, Alexander Abreu —The conga: The Cuban DJ duo PAUZA joined this time with the trumpeter and leader of Havana D' Primera, Alexander Abreu. In conga tempo with electronics, a trumpet and sung reveille, they add a very Cuban flavor to the song.
La Dame Blanche — To the truth of yours – Shangó Remix: The flow Hiphoppas that surrounds Yaite Ramos, the Cuban singer and flutist based in Paris, better known as La Dama Blanche, reappears in this song. Melodies and melismas from flamenco, linked with electronics and Afro-Latin rhythms, accompany that way of representing hip-hop, which is already part of their identity.
Ignacio Piñeiro National Septet — real sun: This new single is part of the track list of eight themes Glory to the soneros (Boumqueur Edition, 2022), the new production of the son ensemble that is celebrating its 95th anniversary this year. A beautiful album, full of elegant tradition, full of good sound.
The individual — The Cress: The theme, with music and production by Cuban drummer, composer and producer Marcelo Camacho, represents the current sound of Rafael Bou, the Cuban rapper who has been living in Miami for some time and who does not stop releasing new music. Listen to the single so that you feel like giving "the watercress", as we say in Cuba to "behave badly" and form a joy; by the way, read the interview that we did a while ago to the rapper in our magazine, so you can get to know him a little more.
MORE CULTURE
From June 28 to July 2, with the participation of more than a hundred choirs from all over the island, the XIV Corhabana Choir Festival 2022 was held in its face-to-face mode in the capital of all Cubans. From July 5 to 9, they continued their days from the virtual. We also enjoyed during the second half of June the programs in the cinemas of the 23 French Film Festival that brought films like At war (At war) by Stephane Brize and The confession (L'aveu) of Costa-Gavras. This July, with the beginning of summer, comes loaded with musical events: the Changüí Festival in Guantánamo, the Ciudad del Mar Festival in Cienfuegos, the Piña Colada in Ciego de Ávila and the Maxim Rock Fest in Havana, almost at the end the month.
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