Ivette Cepeda celebrates with the songs that were there

May 17, 2021

The DVD 10 Years, The Concert, by Ivette Cepeda and Reflexión, a recording of the performances on November 10 and 11, 2018 at the Karl Marx, was presented by the Unicornio label of Abdala Productions.

The memorable performances took place on the occasion of the first decade of the acclaimed interpreter alongside the group led by José Luis Beltrán, in addition to marking five decades for Cepeda after trading the classroom for the stage.

During the presentation, last Tuesday, Ivette made a retrospective of the reasons that led her to change course to become a singer: "I no longer had a voice to teach with. I couldn't handle the teaching load. I was exhausted to the extreme".

One day, she recounted, a friend called her on the phone to accompany him to an audition, and from there a life began.

I worked as hard as any Cuban woman to survive. So, I'm celebrating and very grateful, she declared.

The production of the audiovisual and artistic direction was in charge of the talented Yeandro Tamayo, with the collaboration of the Musical Artistic Representations Agency Musicalia and the National Center for Popular Music.

I remember once when I went to the Gato Tuerto with some friends. For the first time I saw her sing, and that night I left there so inspired that I sat down to write a film script called Inventory. It's about a singer that has nothing to do with Ivette; but the character came from her performance, Tamayo recalled.

From that point on, not only did he begin to follow her, but also to work on music videos of her repertoire; such as Things of the Heart, and No Remedy, with Buena Fe. Until the opportunity came to leave for history this present DVD.

The memorable concert had José Luis Beltrán and maestro Rafael Guedes as musical directors, an experience that greatly enriched the selection of songs which was in charge of Ivette Cepeda herself.

It has been an enormous pleasure to work with a person like her for more than 20 years, expressed Guedes; "until that moment everyone had me pigeonholed as director of Mayohuacán".

Let us recall that the interpreter's first album, Seasons (Colibrí, 2008), recorded at Bellas Artes under the general direction of Lester Hamlet, had the guitarist, composer and director as a faithful translator of energies, harmonies and good taste.

A total of 40 musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra and the Son Chamber Orchestra accompanied the singer, with guest appearances among which stand out guitarists Lino Lores and Adolfo Florián, trumpeter Julito Padrón, Edgar Martínez on congas and Idisan Aldana on clarinet.

The compositions she performed then make a journey through experiences and productions such as Seasons, Country, the song Beginning and End of a Green Morning (Pablo Milanés), Angel for an Ending (Silvio Rodríguez), and a preview of The Rose of Jericho, coming soon, and which for reasons of promotional strategy were not included in the final audiovisual product.

Juan Formell, Marta Valdés, Vicente Feliú, Donato Poveda, Amaury Pérez and Tony Pinelli, among others, converge in her voice.

Those songs were there, and all I did was choose what I liked best from what I heard so much, to do it my way, explained Cepeda.

Ernesto Estrada (Enzo) was in charge of the recording, mixing and mastering of this production, which had the editing and color correction by Luis Najmías Jr.

Today it falls to us to be attentive to the live art of this interpreter, highlights the immense Marta Valdés in the product's note; "I am not the only person who has surrendered to the reasons of this singing voice. Blessed are we who can be touched by her song in our hearts".

Ten Years, The Concert. Ivette Cepeda and Reflexión, is nominated in two categories of the Cubadisco 20-21 Award: Songwriting and Live Concert; and is already available on all digital platforms, as well as the YouTube channel of Abdala Productions.