New album launch: Silvio Rodríguez with Diákara

September 7, 2021

On October 1st, the album Silvio Rodríguez con Diákara will be presented on the main digital platforms.

Prior to the launch, "Variaciones sobre un viejo tema," the second advance from this recording, will be available starting September 10th.

We share Silvio Rodríguez's words about the album.


With Diákara

This album was recorded in 1991, in the studios of the PolyGram label on Av. Miguel Ángel de Quevedo –in Coyoacán–, Mexico DF. Young engineer Francisco Miranda recorded it, with the assistance of Miguel Ángel Bárzagas, who handled our live sound. We arrived there somewhat tired, eager to get home, having just finished a tour through Aztec cities. There were barely three or four morning sessions in which we managed to record 10 songs, thanks to the training from the tour. In one morning I recorded 8 of the voices heard here. I was able to add the other two twenty years later, in the Ojalá studios in La Habana, when I resumed this work to finally publish it.

These recordings have gone through many tribulations and generated quite a few adventures. Originally they were recorded with very specific sound reducers, equipment that connected to the recorders used at that time. This technology didn't exist in Cuba and whenever we played back the tapes we heard an unpleasant hiss in the foreground. This made us see the need to find what we were missing, in order to mix with the highest possible quality.

One day someone told us about a brand new studio, in another country, that "had everything." We made contact, but they lacked the sound reducer. However, they promised to rent it in a third country and said we would have it when we arrived. Then I spoke with Chucho Valdés, who was supposed to add the piano to Venga la Esperanza, since we were using his arrangement, and I proposed that he travel with us to complete the recording.

An enthusiastic Chucho postponed commitments and got on the plane with us to our destination. But the joy of our arrival faded when the studio told us they still didn't have the promised equipment, though they expected it the next day. That conversation repeated itself, identically, for 10 consecutive days until, on the eleventh, having run out of resources to stay there, we had to return to Cuba with our two-inch tapes untouched. The good thing about those 11 days were the vacations enjoyed by the great talents who accompanied me.

Since the mid-80s I had been proposing in Cuba the idea of building recording studios with cutting-edge technology. At the end of 1989 we were authorized to create a fund for that purpose, which was inaugurated with the fees from the memorable concert at the National Stadium in Chile in 1990. After completing my collaboration with Diákara, we acquired a 24-track multitrack and the elusive sound reducer. Since our studios were still a project, we lent both pieces of equipment to EGREM, which used them for several years. Thanks to that, on San Miguel street, in Centrohabana, we managed to complete the recording we had started on the avenue Miguel Ángel de Coyoacán.

The reason that for 30 years has driven me to return again and again to this work has been its musical quality. Diákara was an exceptional group that in just a few months achieved remarkable solidity and originality. Not long ago, thanks to Emilio Vega –former Diákara member and still close collaborator–, we put together a formidable brass section and a couple of clarinets in the Ojalá studios, which "humanized" a sound that was originally made with keyboards.

After 30 years without wavering in the execution of this project, I can finally dedicate it to the memory of Diákara's founder –one of the greatest drummers Cuba has ever produced–: Oscarito Valdés (Jr.). To him, in his eternity, I am grateful for having invited me to inaugurate together this rich experience.

Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez,
La Habana, June 2021.
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Technical Details of SILVIO RODRÍGUEZ CON DIÁKARA

Silvio Rodríguez: Composer of all songs, Spanish guitar, vocals and arrangements

Oscarito Valdés (Jr): Drums, arrangements and director

Diego Valdés: Electric bass and arrangements

Emilio Vega: Keyboards and arrangements

Roberto Vizcaíno: Percussion

Ramón Valle: Piano

Ahmed Barroso: Electric and acoustic guitar

Niurka González: Clarinets on El Güije

Alexander Abreu: Trumpet

Roberto García: Trumpet

Amaury Pérez: Trombone

José Luis Hernández: Tenor saxophone

Special participation by Chucho Valdés: Piano and arrangement on Venga la Esperanza

Recording:

Francisco Miranda (Polygram, Mexico City, 1991)

Jerzy Belc (Egrem, La Habana, 1993)

Olimpia Calderón (Ojalá, La Habana 2008-2021)

Mixing: Olimpia Calderón (Ojalá, La Habana, 2021)

Mastering: Miguel Ángel Bárzagas (La Habana, 2021)

Cover: Patricia Carrazana

Design: Mauricio Chávez