“In each of the songs there’s love with all that multiplicity of things and beings in which it’s manifested: love for the couple, for the mother, for humanity,” said the poet and repentista Luis Paz, Papillo, about the CD - DVD “No escapes del amor”, which he has just presented under the Bis Music record label.

How did this production come about?

“The album was an underlying idea, but it took shape from the radio show Soy la décima guajira, a proposal from the Centro Iberoamericano de la Décima, hosted by Radio Rebelde. The director of the program, who later became the general producer of the album, had the idea of recording a phonogram, taking advantage of the centenary of Cuban Radio and Naborí in 2022, and the motivation of my 25 years of artistic life was added. I put together the project and presented it to Bis Music, who embraced it with great enthusiasm.

“I took advantage of things that showed me the way, like sometimes it’s participating alone in an activity and finding how to do it differently, not just singing the decimas one after the other, because it’s not the same to do it with a couple, as we are used to and as people expect to see us, which also counts. I combined singing a decima, reciting a poem and closing with another decima verse, that was widely accepted by people and was the model I took for the album in the 6 songs that I do solo.”

In that regard, how is this material integrated?

“There are 4 controversies: poetic dialogue, opposite themes, picaresque and standpoint. “Each of those involved are authors, they voice their own lyrics.”

Musically, what new things do you propose?

“For the first time, the punto music appears accompanied by two lutes with voice functions, different colors: there’s the long-arm lute, which is the tenor, and the short-arm lute, which is the alto, the one most used in Cuba for the accompaniment of the punto. During the ten songs on the album, including the controversies, of course, you hear that conversation between the two lutes, that’s an important contribution of the album to the Guajiro punto, because it’s no longer just the controversy between the poets, but also between the instruments.

“Likewise, the intro of each song is new, I’d say that they were thought right there, in situ: they were agreed upon among the musicians, the intro was agreed upon and it was done. That is something that also contributes to peasant music and that will awaken, motivate other musicians to put their own intros, because that’s a seal by which each one can be recognized. In the case of the song A la madre, which was the one that was intended for the video clip, it also has a novelty, a violin is incorporated that practically takes the lead in the musical background, something that breaks canons and shows that other instruments can be incorporated into peasant music.

“Another peculiarity of the album is that in each of the songs I interpret a different tune, that marks something very particular in me, when I started singing I couldn't even find the tone and I did it for a single tune, which is a characteristic of improvisers, what the public expects from us is the new text, the risky metaphor, the well-polished image, the originality, the occurrence at the moment when we are improvising, but they never expect us to sing different tunes..."

Was this one of the main challenges of the album?

"It’s also the reflection of 25 years of artistic life, someone who when he started could not even find the tone and who now, after 25 years of artistic life and a few more within the tradition, is making an album singing ten different tunes, to distinguish each of the songs a little, it’s also something that shows work, dedication and that can serve as inspiration, as support to move forward for those who are starting and have the same setbacks I had, because there was a moment in my beginnings when I thought I couldn't do it, that this wasn't my path and well, here I am."

Satisfied with the final product?

“I’m satisfied with having carried out the project, with this product, which is not only an album, it also includes a documentary. Every work can be perfected, but the satisfaction resides in that, in having achieved the work, being able to inspire other high-quality artists who can do the same and much more as well. There are always parts that you know you can improve, that you could have done better and that’s the room to growth that the album leaves us. I have always said that every goal becomes a starting point for something a little further.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff