Like Never Before Anyone, the Dream Come True of Ovidio González

March 6, 2020

Accompanied by the Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro, Ovidio González has just presented his most recent phonogram under the Bis Music label.

When speaking with this renowned Cuban singer, he commented that the idea of involving that distinguished group of Cuban music was from producer José Manuel García and added:

"I am grateful to the Septeto Nacional, I have listened to the Septeto a lot and I have programmed them in ways they couldn't imagine on my radio program, for everything they represent for our musical history."

The orchestrations were in charge of Lino Lores García, another source of satisfaction for Ovidio: "The combination of Lino and the septeto was wonderful, the fact that Lino is a musician who doesn't belong to the Septeto and that he is younger, logically gives it another texture."

"I'm still dreaming," he affirms, "and I'm enjoying this album very much. Being able to record with the septeto is wonderful. I love the septeto trumpet, I love the hammering of the bongó in the boleros, I love the repertoire, José Manuel's production, the singing of Silvio Rodríguez, Pedrito Calvo, Pancho Céspedes accompanying me on three of the album's songs, so this is definitely a dream come true."

Especially the piece he performs with Silvio Rodríguez holds a meaningful story for Ovidio: "Silvio has always been very generous with me, it's not the first time he's sung with me on an album. This song, Qué distracción, I believe is one of the most beautiful in Silvio's repertoire and for me it has a beautiful story, because with it I represented Cuba in 1991 at Viña del Mar, in Chile. I had a debt with that song, because it was part of an important moment in my career."

Of course we wanted to take the opportunity to update ourselves on what currently occupies this versatile Cuban artist: "I have been fortunate to dedicate the last forty years to this profession of singing, theater, dramatic acting, continuing to do radio, to teaching, which is something I've been doing since 1985 when I started here at the ISA, to recording albums like this one which is my eleventh, so that's what I keep doing, I have been able to build a discography, especially defending Cuban music, that is, as the song would say, I'm still that one…

Like never before, it has been presented as an experimental album, which includes songs by contemporary authors such as Polo Montañez, Descemer Bueno, Tony Ávila and Carlos Varela. Satisfied with the result of this phonogram, Ovidio González already feels energized for the next release: "I already have a very clear idea for the next album. It will be a very calm, very intimate album. It will be the most intimate of my albums."