metalero
31st October 2005, 23:16
A SONG FOR A NEW TROUBADOR
One could say that the Nueva Trova was the sound track for a different kind of social project that started in Cuba right after the 1959 Revolution. It not only embraced the poetic narrative of the national struggle in those turbulent times, but marked a milestone between rupture and continuity. It was, without a doubt, a time of urgency in all things, and the singers heeded the call of theri time.
Musically this Trova was "new" even though its roots were firmly entrenched in the native tradition (Sindo Garay, Manuel Corona...), and it refused to nourish itself from the many external influences that were then creeping into Latin American rhythms and melodies. The music did not yield to the contaminating presence of Anglo Saxon folk rock permeating the scene, even though there was contact with the so-called protest song from abroad. [Folk rock's birth roughly coincided with the formative years of Nueva Trova Cubana (New Cuban Trova)].
This contact did not detract from the merits of the music, but signified unquestionable -although not always completly understood- progress in the search for its own special identity, one which would combine the traditional and the contemporaneus beneath an unprejudice prism, while imbuing this fusion with the spirit that pervaded the decade of the 60's.
As far as the lyrics were concerned, the Trova was also "new". Some previous codes still lingered in the background, ideals, which the very evolution of cuban society itself helped to overcome. Now the poetic discourse took another flight of fancy, perhaps towards a different kind of intellectualism, which also demanded a new kind of listener.
It sought the exteriorisation of a message with many different interpretations. Although it chronicled such traditional subjects as the changing historical context, or a simple description of an ordinary day, the literary influences were broader, the words invoked another dimension, adn the poetry acquired a new air in the voices of the troubadours.
In 1972 when Haydee Santamaria, director of the Casa de las Americas, helped to promote its launch, the Nueva Trova, this music, born between 1966 and 1967, but had no official birthplace, became a recognised movement.
By then people were talking about "not only songs of commitment, but also songs that demanded commitment". The vanguard of new troubadours defended "with every blow of their guitars", their right to sing the avatars of their times. They were Silvio Rodriguez, Pablo Milanes, Noel Nicola, Agusto Blanca, Vicente Feliu, Lazaro Garcia and others who were very shortly joined by Pedro Luis Ferrer, Mike Porcell, Amaury Perez, Sara Gonzales...
Since those first moments the Nueva Trova has never ceased to make its presence felt in Cuban music, not just because of the large quantity of work recorded as cultural patrimony, and in the collective consciousness of the people, but because it constitutesa reference which is almost mandatory in order to be able to eviscerate the mysteries of creation. because we would do well to remember that more than being just a musical style or a poetic projection, the Nueva Trova became a real attitude or a call to conscience, through its art. Not even when the Movement began to flounder in the mid-eighties, did this precept fall by the wayside.
In later years, succesive waves of troubadours have continued to sow seeds that were first planted by the original Nueva Trova. The experiencies now receiving recognition, such as the work of Habana Abierta, David Torrens, Gema and Pavel, Superavit, Raul Torres, Amaury Gutierrez, among others gives validity to a way of being that, without a doubt, highlights a more interesting aesthetic angle of our music. It's quite fortunate that this is not just a simple chronological succesion, but a more enlightened way of taking on the troubadours discourse, enriching it and making it even more Cuban.
So what we have here is an invitation to peek through a window in time, to witness an incantation of chords sustained within the throat and the heart to remind us that "a song is always worth a good storm...although truth be filled with chairs".
Humberto Manduley
One could say that the Nueva Trova was the sound track for a different kind of social project that started in Cuba right after the 1959 Revolution. It not only embraced the poetic narrative of the national struggle in those turbulent times, but marked a milestone between rupture and continuity. It was, without a doubt, a time of urgency in all things, and the singers heeded the call of theri time.
Musically this Trova was "new" even though its roots were firmly entrenched in the native tradition (Sindo Garay, Manuel Corona...), and it refused to nourish itself from the many external influences that were then creeping into Latin American rhythms and melodies. The music did not yield to the contaminating presence of Anglo Saxon folk rock permeating the scene, even though there was contact with the so-called protest song from abroad. [Folk rock's birth roughly coincided with the formative years of Nueva Trova Cubana (New Cuban Trova)].
This contact did not detract from the merits of the music, but signified unquestionable -although not always completly understood- progress in the search for its own special identity, one which would combine the traditional and the contemporaneus beneath an unprejudice prism, while imbuing this fusion with the spirit that pervaded the decade of the 60's.
As far as the lyrics were concerned, the Trova was also "new". Some previous codes still lingered in the background, ideals, which the very evolution of cuban society itself helped to overcome. Now the poetic discourse took another flight of fancy, perhaps towards a different kind of intellectualism, which also demanded a new kind of listener.
It sought the exteriorisation of a message with many different interpretations. Although it chronicled such traditional subjects as the changing historical context, or a simple description of an ordinary day, the literary influences were broader, the words invoked another dimension, adn the poetry acquired a new air in the voices of the troubadours.
In 1972 when Haydee Santamaria, director of the Casa de las Americas, helped to promote its launch, the Nueva Trova, this music, born between 1966 and 1967, but had no official birthplace, became a recognised movement.
By then people were talking about "not only songs of commitment, but also songs that demanded commitment". The vanguard of new troubadours defended "with every blow of their guitars", their right to sing the avatars of their times. They were Silvio Rodriguez, Pablo Milanes, Noel Nicola, Agusto Blanca, Vicente Feliu, Lazaro Garcia and others who were very shortly joined by Pedro Luis Ferrer, Mike Porcell, Amaury Perez, Sara Gonzales...
Since those first moments the Nueva Trova has never ceased to make its presence felt in Cuban music, not just because of the large quantity of work recorded as cultural patrimony, and in the collective consciousness of the people, but because it constitutesa reference which is almost mandatory in order to be able to eviscerate the mysteries of creation. because we would do well to remember that more than being just a musical style or a poetic projection, the Nueva Trova became a real attitude or a call to conscience, through its art. Not even when the Movement began to flounder in the mid-eighties, did this precept fall by the wayside.
In later years, succesive waves of troubadours have continued to sow seeds that were first planted by the original Nueva Trova. The experiencies now receiving recognition, such as the work of Habana Abierta, David Torrens, Gema and Pavel, Superavit, Raul Torres, Amaury Gutierrez, among others gives validity to a way of being that, without a doubt, highlights a more interesting aesthetic angle of our music. It's quite fortunate that this is not just a simple chronological succesion, but a more enlightened way of taking on the troubadours discourse, enriching it and making it even more Cuban.
So what we have here is an invitation to peek through a window in time, to witness an incantation of chords sustained within the throat and the heart to remind us that "a song is always worth a good storm...although truth be filled with chairs".
Humberto Manduley