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DVA 35 ANIVERSARIO DE VIENTO SOLAR |
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escrito por Administrator
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Friday, 11 de November de 2011 |
DVA 35 ANIVERSARIO DE VIENTO SOLAR
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Iván Fariñas Interview |
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Wednesday, 28 de September de 2011 |
Iván Fariñas is considered “the grandfather of Cuban
rock.” The leader of the legendary band Viento Solar is not just a great
musician, but also a lover of this genre to which he has dedicated his
work as a researcher and a historian. He recently received a
professional career award at the Cuerda Viva Festival.
Nobody questions that Cuban rock is a reality. Its performers deserve
full acknowledgement from the populace for having developed a truly
revolutionary art that will never die and which will continue to exert
its influence among millions of people.
What are the origins of Cuban rock?
Who are its most representative figures?
Cuban rock includes several periods. The first began in 1955 and
finished in 1960. It included outstanding figures such as the Llopis Brothers, Frank and Ñolo.
At their start, along with Felipe Dulzaides, they created a band called
Los Llopis, whose versions
were in Spanish.
Los Llopis was not an
exclusively rock group, as by the end of the 1950s their phonography
increasingly resembled tropical music. However, they won the glory of
being the first.
The Hot Rockers excelled
during the same period. Unlike Los
Llopis, which had a high record production, they left only one
45 rpm record.
As a testimony of their work remain the musical tracks of Rip it up and Cachita. The latter, by Puerto
Rican Rafael Hernández, is the first fusion of Rock and Roll
with Cha, Cha, Cha.
The Hot Rockets ended up
playing Jazz and already in 1960, no longer existed. The band was
composed of guitarist Luis Cano (the brother of Pablo Cano, who played
the guitar first with Los Llopis
and then with Los Armónicos),
pianist Raúl Ondina, bassist Kike Villalta, saxophonist Leonardo
Acosta, drummer Joel Iglesias and percussionists Ernesto
Calderín and Tony Escarpenter. The latter, a handsome man,
looked like American actor Tony Curtis, but according to some, his
voice was very similar to that of Elvis Presley.
There were also other relatively-important groups, like Los Jaguares, which was made known
on German Pinelli’s TV program El
Show del Mediodía.
Ricky Orlando is also part of that period. He started singing at the
age of 14 on the Viejito Chichi
TV show and dedicated his life to Rock and Roll. Shortly afterwards he
created his own band, The City Devils.
Mario Mechaca’s Los Centuriones
was also prominent at that time. But no one won more sympathies in
those first five years of Rock and Roll than Jorge Bauer, who began as
a simple chansonnier (singer-songwriter) at the beginning of the 1950s
and soon became an idol of the youth. His only opponent was Pedro
Román, a protégé of Salvador Levi, the director of
the Escuela de rock and roll, a TV show of that time—and in great
demand—that was broadcast from the Astral Cinema.
Pedro Román made himself famous with versions of Paul Anka’s Crazy Love and Gene Vincent’s Be Bop a Lula.
Likewise, we must keep in mind other important bands like Abelardo
Bush’s The Pretenders—which
played ballads and slow rock—and Tony Taño’s group, which was
very similar to Bill Haley’s The
Comets.
The Batista police never looked kindly on Rock and Roll, and much less
after the screening of films like Rebel Without a Cause
and The Bad Seed,
among others.
After 1959, Rock and Roll followed the same path, although artists like
Argentinean Luis Aguile emerged.
In 1960, Luis Bravo, a singer with a somewhat adolescent voice,
appeared. From Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, he migrated to Havana
and for a short time sang Mexicans songs in bars and cafeterias,
accompanied by his guitar. Then, a producer came across him and
introduced him at the Cabaret Nacional on Paseo Martí and San
Rafael (today, the Boulevard).
From that moment on, Luis Bravo increased in popularity and recorded 12
singles and two long plays with the Velvet record house, in just two
years. His example was a source of inspiration for an immense number of
followers, such as: Los Enfermos del
Rock, the Dino and Freddy
duet, Los Príncipes del Rock,
the Sammy and Richard duet, Los Diablos Melódicos and
Raulito Gómez’s Los Astros.
As well, for revelation figures such as Baby Fernández, Nelson
Brandly, Los Frenéticos,
Alexis Machin, Mike Soto, and many others.
When Cuba and the United States broke relations, some people considered
rock “the music of the enemy, the language of the enemy.” Then, there
was the time of the Cold War, the Bay of Pigs, the Missile Crisis and
the uprising of armed bands throughout the country.
Nevertheless, rock continued to be played. And though it didn’t have a
good reputation, it was tolerated. And though somehow its performers
were considered to have a deviant ideology, many groups continued
playing the genre. Among these were included Los Vampiros and Los Satélites. These bands
were composed of black people and had a style similar to that of Limbo Rock in the United States.
This was the origin of street rock. And the situation continued like
that until 1965.
The merit of Salvador Terry’s Los
Vampiros and Los
Satélites is unquestionable. They kept rock alive. In
truth, they prevented the death of Cuban Rock and Roll and showed that
black and mixed race people also loved it. From 1961 to 1964, they made
people put aside the old quarrels and misunderstandings that rock was
the music of high life of the white majority.
When did Cuban rock stop making covers
and start recording national lyrics and music?
As of 1966, Los Dada emerges
within the Army. This band was composed of Raúl Pastora and
Alfredo Arias, two former members of Los
Vampiros who had enrolled for General Military Service.
There’s also Armandito Zequeira’s Los
Fantásticos and the
Cuarteto Negro, which was founded in 1965 and one year later
became the Quinteto Negro.
These two bands were preceded by Los
Halcones, Dino and Freddy’s
Los Príncipes del Calipso and Los Príncipes del Rock. I
was a member of all of them.
In addition to these must be added Rey Montesinos’ Los Violentos, whose members no
longer sang in English. They played their own music and versions of
English themes, sung in Spanish.
At that time, for musicians to play rock, they had to veil this word
and use the synonym of modern music.
In 1963, Salvador Terry and Los
Vampiros played an infinite number of versions of English themes
in Spanish in private parties, making use of the drums. Their venue was
the José Antonio Echevarría Social Club, located in the
Vedado neighborhood. There, the audience vibrated with emotion like
never before or since.
National rock was creating its own path. It had a structure where
neither skin color nor race mattered. Los
Fantásticos was directed by its drummer Ángel
Orille (nicknamed Manos torpes or Heavy-Handed)—a white man whose
musical group was completely made up of black people.
Conrado Wilson and his Combo recorded ABC Blues and Ojos Negros (Black eyes). He went
down in history as the first man who used Cuban guitar codes linked
with Blues music. He anticipated the method that was later used by
Carlos Santana.
After that, there was a mental cultural imbalance within our ranks.
With the emergence of The Beatles
and the Rolling Stones and
their success in the United States, that music started to be used, but
initially on the sly.
Then, other bands emerged, especially in residential areas. Examples
are Dino Freijo’s Los Buitres,
in 1966, and Los Pacíficos—a
band from a Vedado High School.
Los Kents appeared in 1968.
Pashalidis, the accordionist, became the guitarist when O’Reilly left
the group. Carlos Carnero was the drummer and Mario Moro the bassist. A
year later, Waldo O’Farril, a member of Dimensión Vertical, joined
the band. After Frank Tony, who was the singer for a short time, left
the group, Jorge Conde entered—and this remained as its more stable
line-up.
Henry Vesa’s Los Jets was
founded in 1969. The band was composed of drummer Miguel Cedeño
(nicknamed el Gordo or the Chubby One), singer Guillermo (Willy)
Quesada, bassist Luis Ángel León and lead guitarist
Javier González.
Other names and groups of the time can also be mentioned, such as Dimensión Vertical, directed
by Jorge Luis Penichet and Los
Peniques, with singer José Ignacio Vázquez Gallo
(Nacho) and bass guitarist Julito Quintana, among others. Also, Mayito
Valdez’s Los Yen’s (he was
later a member of Los Signos) and Gustavo Díaz Chanez’s Los Hanks, both of them from Havana
city, as well as many others.
We cannot talk about rock from that period without mentioning Pedro
Caña’s Los Gnomos and
Los Signos, founded in 1969.
And of course, the legendary Almas
Vertiginosas, a band created in the Los Sitios neighborhood of
Centro Habana municipality.
Some 95% of the musical tracks of these bands were covers, or versions
of tracks that were famous on international billboards, that were sung
in English. This distinguishes them from other groups that later on
disappeared, such as Los
Satélites and Los
Vampiros, who performed mostly Spanish versions of musical
tracks.
Groups that stand out are Los Dada
and Los Fantásticos,
to which was later added Los
Mensajeros, Los Cuales, Los Magnéticos and Los Barbas, all professional bands
created at the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s.
This flood of bands was headed by Los
Bucaneros. The incorporation of Raúl Gómez and
Ernesto Pérez gave a new vocal and instrumental performance to
the old line-up.
All those groups, created after the emergence of Dino Freijo’s Los Buitres, are part of what we
can call “The Third Generation of Cuban Rock.” They were the preferred
groups, perhaps because of their professional members. Their recorded
music was broadcast over and over again on radio and TV.
What was the impact of Fidel’s speech
delivered on March 13, 1963?
In that major speech, the leader of the Revolution attacked rock and
roll followers and compared them to “little lumpen,” emphasizing: “Many
of those fashion followers, those tramps, those children of the
bourgeois, go around with their Elvis Presley-like attitudes. With
their dissolute behavior, they have reached the extreme point where
they want to go to public places to organize their womanish shows just
like that (…). But they are all related—the lumpen, tramps, Elvis
Presley followers, jeans; (…). We oppose extremists, we oppose
incorrect methods, we oppose botchery.”
From that moment on, the opportunistic bureaucrats launched an
unwritten campaign against rock and each one dealt with the issue in
their own way. As a result, records were confiscated and all those
carrying rock and roll discs or something similar were taken to police
stations. Extremist and botched actions were committed, and maybe some
incorrect methods too.
The press never mentioned that. And those police officers, who because
of their origin couldn’t understand the mentality of a big city, could
not be refrained from their actions. The rock age in Cuba was basically
a Havana city phenomenon.
With the creation of Mozambique, by Pello el Afrocán, this genre
caught the overriding attention of that group of black rockers,
especially their singers. Thus, the rock and roll enthusiasm of that
ethnic sector was neutralized and rock was left practically in the
hands of the whites.
From that moment on, rock was marginalized and Cuba, one of the most
advanced Latin American countries in this field of culture, remained
far behind Spain, Argentina and, of course, Mexico.
In an interview conducted with our Commander in Chief, on December 8,
2000, after the visit to Cuba by the group Manic Street Preachure and
on the actual day of the inauguration of John Lennon Park, Fidel said:
“But I didn’t cut anyone’s hair, you know? Possibly there was extremism
for different reasons; there was practically a huge rejection of the
West, you could say because of the blockade, because of the dirty war,
the aggressions, the terrorist attacks that we still suffer. And
possibly people didn’t have the culture they have today.”
And referring to Lennon he definitely affirmed: “A Lennon today would
be much better known and better admired than at that time…”
What was the role played by radio and
television programs, such as Buenas Tardes, Nocturno and Radio Marianao?
The television program Buenas Tardes,
on the air for over ten years, tried to focus the attention of youth on
national song/trova/pop-rock. That was the reserve for the creation of
new stars.
The objective was to persuasively convince Cubans about the importance
of so-called national culture. That was the origin of artists such as Rolando Ojeda (Ojedita), Alfredito
Rodríguez, Los Dadas, Miguel Ángel Piña, Los Barbas,
Los 5U4, Leonor Zamora, Los Gafas, Los Magnéticos, Maria Elena
Pena, Lourdes Gil and Los Galantes, Delia María, Tres más
uno, Miguel Chávez, Beatriz Márquez, Farah Maria, the
Rocel and Cary duet, and of course, Mirtha and Raúl.
The radio also broadcast Spanish and Mexican groups and singers making
covers of English and American bands.
Actually, English rock started to be heard in 1970, on a Radio Marianao
program entitled Buenas
Tardes Juventud. That program presented groups such as the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Dave Clark
Five, The Animals, Grand Funk, Rare Earth, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, Presley, Sedaka and Paul Anka. At the beginning of the
1980s, this radio station joined Radio Ciudad de la Habana.
What tendencies were later on seen in
Cuban rock?
Cuba, in a manner of speaking, is a genuinely musical country. An
example of this is that today all the manifestations and sub-genres of
rock are performed, no matter how atypical they are. From the rhythmic
and blues, to the ballad rock, the limbo rock, the slow rock, the
rockabilly and the twist, at its beginning, are played.
Then, from 1964-1965 on, we started playing the so-called Beat, hardly
knowing it was a rhythm from Liverpool, England. That happened from the
third generation of rockers on.
Then there came the fourth generation, with the Zeppelin-like sound,
and, of course, Underground,
which mixed Hard Rock and Psychedelic simultaneously with the sound of Deep Purple and Grand Funk, which in due time left Black Sabbath behind on the bench.
This type of music was very much performed in Cuba by street bands,
until the arrival of Heavy Metal or Heavy Rock with ACDC at the head, followed by Van Halen, Ronnie Montrose and Alice Cooper.
Unfortunately, the 1980s Punk tendency was not welcomed by our rock and
roll musicians until the 1990s. However, there were several great dance
groups with the name of Free Creeks.
In major National Festivals such as the Alamar Festival, Heavy trash,
in 1990, Speed Metal and Death Metal, in 1991, started to be performed,
and also, in 1992, some kinds of satanic trends.
Then arrived a period of National rock. And even though its roots were
based in Grindcore, it gave rise to the more radical death tendency.
This was evidenced in two ways: the trend of the Western part of the
country, with a Trash-like style, and the Central-Eastern trend, with a
darker influence.
Today, there’s a high presence of Metalcore and Black Metal among 15-30
year old rock-loving youth.
How is rock seen in the Island in the
21st century?
As of the Alamar Festivals of 1999, 2000 and 2001, the number of
festivals in the country has increased. We now have Ciudad Metal, in
Santa Clara; El Rey Metal de Tendencia, in Pinar del Río; los
Mephistos, in Holguín and the Atenas Festival, in Matanzas in
2001.
In addition, as of 2001, Cuerda Viva, a
television program directed by Ana Maria Rabbasa, is on the air. This
program, broadcast on Sunday afternoons, provides an excellent
opportunity to rock bands, among other genres.
We currently have a theater, the Maxim Rock, a nightclub, the Yellow
Submarine—in honor of The Beatles—and
a National Rock Agency that brings together over 12 bands.
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Patada por el Oido |
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escrito por Viento Solar
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Monday, 05 de January de 2009 |
LA PATADA POR EL OIDO
Iván Fariñas de Armas
Para referirnos al ROCK dentro de nuestras fronteras con madurez de criterio absoluto
primeramente debemos conocer que a través del tiempo se ha creado una relativa
actitud positiva entre el publico afín hacia la música roquera de antaño foránea ( 60s y 70s), como también hacia aquellos sonidos y timbres que se mueven de lo moderno a lo ultra moderno y que son de gran difusión internacional.
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Modificado el ( Monday, 05 de January de 2009 )
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Viento Solar en Concierto |
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escrito por Viento Solar
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Monday, 05 de January de 2009 |
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Modificado el ( Monday, 05 de January de 2009 )
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New Album – Power is Power |
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escrito por Viento Solar
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Tuesday, 27 de May de 2008 |
New Viento Solar tracks!
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Modificado el ( Wednesday, 04 de June de 2008 )
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El Punto GE - Entrevista |
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escrito por El Punto GE
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Monday, 04 de February de 2008 |
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En la escena rock cubana Iván Fariñas es uno de los nombres más conocidos. En mi criterio, ofrece un ejemplo y una significación personal que hasta hoy supera el alcance de su música.
Lea más: http://club.telepolis.com/elpuntoge/vsolar.htm
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Modificado el ( Monday, 04 de February de 2008 )
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Los padres del rock cubano |
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escrito por Jorge Smith Mesa
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Thursday, 25 de October de 2007 |
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08 de Septiembre, 2007
En la Feria del Libro de Guadalajara 2006, el rey del rock español Miguel Ríos a una pregunta de este reportero dijo: "los padres del rock en España fueron los cubanos Llópiz", se refería a una de las grandes agrupaciones que desde los 50 del pasado siglo dejaron su impronta en la historia del ritmo de Elvis Presley en el idioma de Cervantes.
Acerca del asunto se ha armado la trifulca en Iberoamérica, pero en Cuba los especialistas hablan de otro gran hombre: Felipe Dulzaides, quien hizo grupo con Llópiz.
El reportero de Cubasí recurre a Iván Fariñas, músico, investigador y rotundo experto por muchas cosas. |
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Modificado el ( Thursday, 25 de October de 2007 )
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Viento Solar - Fotos |
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escrito por Dan Bashaw
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Wednesday, 09 de May de 2007 |
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Fotos:
FOTO DE IVAN FARIÑAS LEADER DE VIENTO SOLAR – EJECUTADA POR ANDRES VARELA
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Modificado el ( Friday, 07 de September de 2007 )
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ENTREVISTA PERSONAL |
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escrito por Staff Viento Solar
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Saturday, 15 de April de 2006 |
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LA BANDA DE ROCK VIENTO SOLAR PRESENTA EN LA WEB ARGENTINA DEDICADA A TODO EL ROCK LATINOAMERICANO ENTREVISTA PERSONAL HECHA POR MARYS RENNE HERTIMAN PUEDES OBTENERLA HACIENDO CLICK EN. www.sinfronterarock.com.ar ALLI ENCONTRARAS MUSICA Y VIDEO DE VIENTO SOLAR PUEDES BUSCAR EL CLIP GATO .... GATO SEGUN LA REVISTA DE CALIFORNIA U.S.A ESTA DENTRO DE LAS 500 CANCIONES MAS IMPORTANTES DEL ROCK IBEROAMERICANO. |
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Modificado el ( Saturday, 15 de April de 2006 )
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Roberto Bello - Fotos |
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escrito por Staff Viento Solar
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Monday, 09 de January de 2006 |
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Modificado el ( Saturday, 15 de April de 2006 )
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Treinta Años No Es Nada Con Fariñas Y Viento Solar |
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escrito por Carlos Fornés
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Tuesday, 13 de September de 2005 |
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En la escena rock cubana Iván Fariñas es uno de los nombres más conocidos a pesar de sus múltiples detractores. En mi criterio, ofrece un ejemplo y una significación personal que hasta hoy supera el alcance de su música. Su primer acercamiento a la música comenzó a muy temprana edad, cuando integró la agrupación Venatón en 1956. Luego vendrían las bandas Los Halcones en 1961, Cuarteto Negro en 1964 y Quinteto Negro en 1966. En 1967 ingresó a las filas del ejército y allí es uno de los fundadores de la agrupación Los Gafas. Al concluir el servicio militar, Fariñas creó The Musical Power Men, una banda donde maduraron los músicos que formaron, dos años después, las agrupaciones Nueva Generación y Sesiones Ocultas. |
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Modificado el ( Saturday, 17 de September de 2005 )
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El Caimán sigue rockeando |
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escrito por Omar Vázquez
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Thursday, 28 de July de 2005 |
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Viento Solar es creación de un veterano creador e investigador del género, Iván Fariñas, y un potente cuarteto de experimentados músicos, cultivadores del rock primigenio y del que lo sucedió. Desde el principio optaron por cantar en español. De ahí que merecieran, junto a Dimensión Vertical, abrir el II Festival Internacional Caimán Rock 2005, en la sala Covarrubias. |
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Festival Rocks Cuba |
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escrito por Viento Solar
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Wednesday, 27 de July de 2005 |
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[EN] Thirty Cuban rock bands meet at a national rock festival in Havana from June 23 to 26. In a press conference at the National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC), Cuban veteran rock musicians Carlos Carnero, Ivan Farinas and Luis Manuel Molina, organizers of the event, agreed that "the event will be the seed for a rock event such as those in Rio de Janeiro, Glastonbury, or Esparrago." |
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Modificado el ( Thursday, 28 de July de 2005 )
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escrito por Viento Solar
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Wednesday, 27 de July de 2005 |
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Puedes comprar musica de VIENTO SOLAR bajandola desde www.rhapsody.com/vientosolar/memorias y http://www.yottamusic.com/artists/Viento-Solar/.
También visite nuestro sitio oficial del Web: www.vientosolar.cult.cu/ |
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Modificado el ( Monday, 04 de February de 2008 )
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El abuelo del rock cubano explica por qué el rap se le adelantó |
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escrito por Jorge Smith
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Wednesday, 27 de July de 2005 |
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La Habana, 14 oct.- El triunfo de Orishas en los Grammys latinos y la nominación que recibió Equis Alfonso por su disco tributo a Benny Moré han resucitado la polémica sobre el rap y el rock. Iván Fariñas, el "abuelo del rock cubano", nos da su versión. |
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