I was invited to talk about La Nueva Trova, the most important Cuban musical movement of singers and songwriters in the 20th century, at The Clave Chronicles, a podcast on Cuban music by ethnomusicologist Rebecca Bodenheimer, streamed on social media channels.
Episode Description:
Nueva trova is one of the few Cuban
genres that is for listening and reflecting instead of dancing - it's
sung poetry, much like other Latin American singer-songwriter genres,
namely nueva canción. Rebecca has an in-depth conversation with
independent scholar and former Cuban diplomat Eva Silot Bravo about the
major figures of nueva trova and how it came to be closely identified
with the ideology of the Cuban Revolution. The genre's relationship with
the government shifted in the wake of the economic crisis of the 1990s,
as newer artists began to openly critiqued the preferential treatment
given to foreigners, as well as emigrate abroad.
Songs played:
Pablo Milanés, Mis 22 años
Silvio Rodríguez, Sueño con Serpientes
Xiomara Laugart, Paria
Carlos Varela, Foto de Familia
Gema y Pavel, Se Feliz
Listen Here to the podcast episode
