Pablo Milanés
| Pablo Milanés | |
|---|---|
Milanés in concert in 2015, Medellín, Colombia.
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Pablo Milanés Arias |
| Born | February 24, 1943 |
| Origin | Bayamo, Oriente, Cuba |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | milanespablo.com |
Pablo Milanés Arias (born February 24, 1943) is a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitar player. He is one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola. His music, originating in the Trova, Son and other traditional styles of early 20th Century Cuban music, set him apart from the style of Silvio Rodríguez.
Pablo Milanés, widely known as Pablito, moved with his family from Bayamo to Havana in 1950. He studied in the Conservatorio Municipal de La Habana, at the time the most prestigious musical school in the country. His first public performance was in 1956. By the age of 15, he was active in "bohemian" musical circles in Havana, associated the so-called "filin" musicians.
Although he supported the Cuban Revolution, in 1965 he was sent to the UMAP agricultural forced-labor camp in Camagüey. In 1967, he escaped and fled to Havana to denounce the injustice of the labor camp. This resulted in his imprisonment, first for two months in La Cabaña, an 18th century fortress in Havana, and then for a period of time in a prison camp. He was released when the prison camp was closed due to international pressure.
In 1969, he became part of the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora, a seminal group of young musicians, many of them would go on to be the founding members of the nueva trova, which started as a movement with a concert given by Pablo, Silvio Rodriguez, and Noel Nicola on February 18, 1968. Until the late 1980s, nueva trova was the unofficial musical style of the Cuban Revolution.
Since his first recording ("Versos sencillos de José Martí" in 1973), he has issued more than 40 solo records, and many more in collaboration with other artists from Cuba, elsewhere in Latin America, and Spain. However, his first record with original songs (the eponymous "Pablo Milanés") was not issued until 1976. The heyday of his creativity occurred probably in the early 1980s, with his records "El guerrero", "Yo me quedo", and "Comienzo y final de una verde mañana".
...
Wikipedia