Amaury Pérez Vidal and Egrem pay new tribute to José Martí

May 15, 2020

On May 19th, on the 125th anniversary of the death in combat of our Apostle, Egrem will premiere on the main digital platforms such as Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, etc., and on other media the first two tracks of the album Martí en Amaury.

Special commemorative edition 1978/2020, by Amaury Pérez Vidal, which was being recorded at the moment when the COVID-19 alarm broke out in Cuba, leaving its completion pending. That day you will be able to listen to the works: Cartas de España II, in the voice of Annie Garcés and Carmen, performed by the duo Buena Fe and Alexander Abreu.

Forty-two years after the troubadour and Egrem, in co-production with the Casa de las Américas, released the LP Versos de Martí, with the interpretations of Cuban singer-songwriter Amaury Pérez Vidal and the advisory of Roberto Fernández Retamar, this remake of that beautiful album originates, which brought together 10 musical pieces by the singer based on an equal number of texts authored by Martí.

On this occasion, Elsida González assists Amaury in overall direction, in executive production, and Juan Manuel Ceruto, in production and musical direction. In addition to the singers already mentioned, Adrián Berazaín and Mauricio Figueiral, Eduardo Sosa, Raúl Torres, David Blanco, Leonardo García, Luna Manzanares, Daniel Torres, Ivette Cepeda and César López are also added. This release includes a bonus track: A Enma, performed by Daniel Torres Corona, which does not appear in the original from 1978.

Among the young arrangers who are part of this CD's roster are pianists: Tony Rodríguez, from Havana D´ Primera; Pepe Gavilondo, from Grupo Síntesis; and Daniel Torres Corona, whom we met in the most recent edition of the Adolfo Guzmán competition as a member of Dúo Saudade.

Additionally, such outstanding instrumentalists were invited as: Rodney Barreto, on drums; Dayron Ortiz Jiménez, on guitar; on bass and double bass Roberto Vázquez Ley; on flute Niurka González; and on alto saxophone César López; the strings of the Orquesta del Lyceum de la Habana also joined, under the direction of José Antonio Méndez Padrón.

The new publication will feature the results of the current recordings, and those made in the 70s of the past century, remastered by engineer Orestes Águila, responsible for the sound design of this 2020 album. For the design, the work of Cuban painter Waldo Saavedra was used; the photographs are by Alán Pérez and Joel Valdés; and the design is by Juan Carlos Viera.

According to Egrem, Martí en Amaury. Commemorative edition 1978-2020 preserves the essence of that made in 1978, but with the inevitable contemporaneity that the moment imposes, while also assuring that it will be—as on that occasion—a worthy tribute to our National Hero.