{"id":900,"date":"2023-09-16T14:48:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T14:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/?page_id=900"},"modified":"2023-09-16T14:48:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T14:48:59","slug":"universal-songs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/universal-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, the voice of one of Cuba\u2019s most important Afro Cuban singer-songwriters is available to an English-speaking public in this deluxe bilingual edition, Universal Songs <\/strong><\/a><\/em>by Gerardo Alfonso<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known for his unflinching and objective analysis of contemporary Cuba, Alfonso explores the many challenges and contradictions inherent to life on the island. As Musicologist Robin Moore writes in his introduction, \u201cAlfonso chooses themes that are significant in a social sense, as well as politically charged, but he treats them in a way that avoids dogmatism.\u201d This representative selection of lyrics, translated by Robert Nasatir, has examples of Alfonso’s earliest writings of the 1980s through to the present, compositions that coincide with the most complicated and transformative decades in Cuban history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am history, I am culture
<\/em>I have glory, I have stature
<\/em>There is no vengeance, no mischief
<\/em>Patience is my armor
<\/em>Sometimes I dream of slave ships and the foreman\u2019s whip
<\/em>I sing with all my strength, don\u2019t forget, my song is universal.
<\/em>
Gerardo Alfonso, \u201cMy Song is Universal\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GERARDO ALFONSO<\/strong> (1958-) joined the Movimiento de la Nueva Trova (New Song Movement) in 1980. He is well known throughout Cuba for the songs \u201cS\u00e1banas blancas\u201d (\u201cWhite Sheets\u201d), a tribute to the city of Havana, and \u201cSon los sue\u00f1os todav\u00eda\u201d (\u201cThey’re Still Dreams\u201d), an homage to Ernesto \u201cChe\u201d Guevara. His music combines complex harmonic and rhythmic ideas with a pop sensibility. He is also one of only a few Afro Cuban trovador <\/em>singer-songwriters, and he often explores issues of race and racism in his compositions. Among his recent recordings are La ruta del esclavo<\/em> (The Route of the Slave<\/em>) (2022), La cima<\/em> (The Peak<\/em>) (2009), A orillas del mar<\/em> (On the Seashore<\/em>) (2005), and Raza<\/em> (Race<\/em>) (2004). He has also published an autobiography, Son los sue\u00f1os todav\u00eda<\/em> (2013).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here to purchase<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time, the voice of one of Cuba\u2019s most important Afro Cuban singer-songwriters is available to an English-speaking public in this deluxe bilingual edition, Universal Songs by Gerardo Alfonso. Known for his unflinching and objective analysis of contemporary Cuba, Alfonso explores the many challenges and contradictions inherent to life on the island. As … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Universal Songs”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-900","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":901,"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/900\/revisions\/901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cubanbeatbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}