Tribute album to Ñico Saquito recreates musical chronicles of Cuba

March 29, 2021

Considered a musical testimony of Cuba, the songs of the emblematic Cuban performer Ñico Saquito return today to the sound staff of the island with the production of a new album.

Under the title La retroguaracha de Ñico Saquito and produced by the Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales (Egrem), the album brings together a selection of songs by this singer, registered 120 years ago under the name Benito Antonio Fernández Ortiz and renamed as the Musical Reporter of Cuba.

The record, directed by Ray Fernández and Carlitos Lage, reflects the identity of the people of the Caribbean nation, to the rhythm of guarachas, guajiras and boleros, genres chosen by the creator to convey moments of the Revolution such as the Zafra of the 10 Million or the Declaration of Socialist Character.

Events and passages from 62 years of struggles are captured in the compositions measured by humor, which constitutes the main ingredient of these chronicles of the Cuban social context, with its joys and sorrows.

According to Fernández, who performs the selection of songs together with his group La Barbarie Semiótica, the project confirms the importance of Ñico Saquito's work as a musical heritage and expressed the commitment to approach this recording work with respect and care to obtain a result of unquestionable artistic quality.

For the making of the phonogram, the authors required the work of Alejandro Fernández, grandson of Ñico Saquito, who possesses much of his work, as well as the Egrem archives, with the purpose of offering an accurate repertoire around the first years following the triumph of January 1, 1959.

The performer was the expression of a genuine and independent voice, whose sole intention was to serve as a chronicle of his time and his reality, assured the project managers.