Tribute in Cienfuegos to troubadour Lázaro García

December 29, 2020

The last gathering of the peña la Trova de Guardia in this 2020 had a special and poetic composition, a fertile and emotional dramaturgy. In it converged emblematic cultivators of the genre in Cuba such as Silvio Rodríguez, Vicente Feliú, the Novos brothers and Nelson Valdés to sing together to Lázaro García, that great musician who has always carried among his premises love and cienfueguity anchored to verse.

The premiere of Roberto Novo's interview with the interpreter of Al sur de mi mochila warmed the cold December morning, turning the assembly hall of the hotel La Union into a cultural telescope. More than half an hour of conversation in which Lázaro García told and sang, leaving as historical evidence his passion for unveiling the capital letters of an everyday life laden with dreams and guitars on the shoulder.

"Troubadours gather and the end of that is telling each other anecdotes, stories that pass from one generation to another, and always someone says: friend, that needs to be written down, recorded, and the truth is, it almost never goes beyond that happy moment. Having Lázaro so close we decided to break that inertia and asked him to have a conversation, many friends from the city agreed to meet in the Eusebio Delfín studio to film there what we saw today, a story and many songs," Roberto Novo told the press, who together with his brother Pedro sustain la Trova de Guardia, a nest of Sunday lyrics that in 2021 will celebrate its 13 years of troubadour oasis south of this Island.

The city historian, Irán Millán, offered the guests of the last gathering of 2020, after the credits of the interview ran across the collective consciousness, the book Cienfuegos, la Perla de Cuba. He spoke of the plurality of successes of the audiovisual and congratulated those involved in the project, among them, the production companies Capeld and Sunfilms and the experienced guitarist Jesús (Chuchi) Saura. He also thanked the presence of Antonio Guerrero, hero of the Republic of Cuba.

From the screen to live music, from the man behind the camera to the composer who raises his voice like a mockingbird in the middle of thick countryside, from the duo that converses in a timeline to the collective of troubadours that rises to sing Siempre será el amor, from past history to the flesh and blood Lázaro who looks at the audience that applauds.

"At one moment I felt weak, I had the desire to cry, but it didn't happen. I am very grateful and happy, my friends were here, some came from other distant cities (…) These gatherings make you think that our existence was not in vain, that I am fortunate and have a very beautiful people that loves me (…) Sobre muriendo will be my premiere for 2021, a theme that deals with the sunset of life, not mournful, but full of optimism. Forgetting, yes, is death, when memories of your person remain you don't stop living," Lázaro García concluded, author of countless songs that today make up the national musical staff such as Son de nosotros, En aras del beso, Carretón…

La Trova de Guardia is cultural defense. In its chest beats the being that finds poetry in the cienfueguera moon or in the shadow of a tree with yellowish flowers, and then converts it into music that others hum from one side to another, high or low. The Novos impress again, they look again through the cultural telescope and discard the irrelevant, pragmatic and orthodox to reveal to us a historic encounter, a good excuse to sew poetic patches and songs that do not die to everyday life.

Watch the documentary at https://www.facebook.com/cubadebate/videos/236881741185093