If you’ve heard of Deodato and like his stuff but would like something a bit more hip and with a Latin mid 50’s beat you will like what I’m listening to right now and you probably don't know who these people are but, “Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora” is them.
Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora is considered today almost a myth because of low production, of which only fifteen percent or even less are left. Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora surged as a production of the The Cuban Institute of Cinematography Art & Industry ICAIC (Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográficos), in the beginnings of the sixties. The
institute created an experimental band that surged as a collective under which to work for the creation of music for films and documentaries.With this they pretended to re-launch the perspective of all Cuban music at the time.
Directed by Leo Brower and formed by: Silvio Rodriguez, Pablo Milanes, Noel Nicola, and Sara Gonzalez intended to produce this new movement in Cuban music called the new Trove (La Nueva Trova).The Trova, is one of the grat roots of the Cuban music tree. In the 19th century there grew up in Oriente, and especially Santiago de Cuba, a group of itinerant musicians, trovadores, who moved around earning their living by singing and playing the guitar. According to one writer, to qualify as a trovador in Cuba, a person should a) sing songs of his own composition, or of others of the same kind; b) accompany himself on the guitar; and c) deal poetically with the song This definition fits best the singers of boleros, perhaps unfairly, singers who accompanied themselves on the piano.
After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes. It differed from the traditional trova, not because the musicians were younger, but because the content was, in the widest sense, political. Nueva trova is defined, not only by its connection with Castro's revolution, but also by its lyrics. The lyrics attempt to escape the banalities of life (e.g. love) by concentrating on socialism, injustice, sexism, colonialism, racism and similar 'serious' issues. Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés became the most important exponents of this style. Carlos Puebla and Joseíto Fernández were long-time trova singers who added their weight to the new regime, but of the two only Puebla wrote special pro-revolution songs.
The Cuban Nueva trova dates from the 1967/68, after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes. It differed from the traditional trova, not because the musicians were younger, but because the content was, in the widest sense, political. Nueva trova is defined, not only by its connection with Castro's revolution, but also by its lyrics. The lyrics attempt to escape the banalities of life (e.g. love) by concentrating on socialism, injustice, sexism, colonialism, racism and similar 'serious' issues. Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés became the most important exponents of this style. Carlos Puebla and Joseíto Fernández were long-time trova singers who added their weight to the new regime, but of the two only Puebla wrote special pro-revolution songs.
The regime gave plenty of support to musicians willing to write and sing anti-U.S. or pro-revolution songs; this was quite a bonus in an era when many of the traditional musicians were finding it difficult or impossible to earn a living. In 1967 the Casa de las Américas in Havana held a Festival de la canción de protesta(protest songs). Much of the effort was spent applauding causes that would annoy the U.S. government. Tania Castellanos, a filín singer and author, wrote ¡Por Angela! in support of Angela Davis. César Portillo de la Luz wrote Oh, valeroso Viet Nam. These were hot topics of the 1970s, but their topicality declined as time passed.
Nueva Trova, initially so popular, was dealt a blow by the fall of the Soviet Union, though it was already fading. It suffered inside Cuba, perhaps from a growing disenchantment with one-party rule, and externally, from the vivid contrast with the Buena Vista Social Club film and recordings. Audiences round the world have had their eyes opened to the extraordinary charm and musical quality of the older forms of Cuban music. By contrast, topical themes that seemed so relevant in the 1960s and 70s now seem dry and passé; once a theme is no longer topical, the piece rests solely on its musical quality. Those pieces of high musical and lyrical quality, amongst which Puebla's Hasta siempre stands out, will probably last as long as Cuba lasts.
Here you go album 1 of 4
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