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Recognized as an important root in the country’s rich and influential music tree, Cuban Trova is a style that developed in the 19th century.
Trovadores (or troubadours) were musicians who, guitar in hand, earned a living moving around Cuba’s Orient, singing as solo artists while accompanying themselves on guitar to present original compositions with poetic lyrics.
Socially, the music reached virtually every community in the country.
This evening at the Zocalo Café (corner of Fifth St. and Cliffe Ave.), locally-based musician Oscar Robles Diaz will pay tribute to the legendary ‘trovador’ Silvio Rodriguez, recognized as leader of Cuba’s Nueva Trova movement, and also as Cuba’s best folk singer, famed for his eloquent and symbolic lyrics.
The repertoire for the evening will also include other styles of Cuban as well as music from other Latin American countries, plus even some flamenco music from Spain.
For this special evening, Robles Diaz will occasionally be swapping his nylon-stringed guitar for the requinto Jarocho – an instrument unique to Mexico’s coastal Veracruz and Tamaulipas states.
The Son Jarocho style developed in Mexico as a fusion of the regional indigenous musical traditions with heavy African and Afro-Cuban influences.
Ocassionally accompanied by a surprise guest, Robles Diaz will also perform original compositions that reflect a background of music studies in classical and contemporary styles at Mexico City’s national university, the UNAM.
The concert is 7-9 p.m. tonight (Aug. 28) and is by “pass-the-hat” donation with all proceeds going to the entertainment. For reservations, call 250-331-0933.