Overview
The immensely popular Cuban singer-songwriter Carlos Varela has dedicated his 30-year music career to expressing “the problems of my people.” His poetic lyrics speak to the promise and pain of Cuba across generations, with complex emotion and powerful imagery. His message has been banned and censored by Cuban authorities, but his songs, like 2000’s “Una Palabra,” continue to resonate around the world. As Carlos explains: “Words can transform. They can reach your soul and your heart. They can shake your bones. They can change your life, and that can’t be lost.”
A longtime friend and fan of Carlos Varela, the rock artist Jackson Browne has been nominated for eight GRAMMY® Awards. As a songwriter, he’s composed hits like “Take It Easy,” “Somebody’s Baby,” “These Days,” “Running on Empty,” and “Going Down to Cuba.” He also translated and covered Carlos’s “Walls and Doors.” Like Carlos, he has “regularly threaded activism into his life and songs” (The New York Times).
Diana Fuentes is a Cuban singer-songwriter known for her sparkling voice and her fusion of pop, R&B and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. She began as a vocalist in Síntesis and Carlos Varela’s band, earning Latin GRAMMY® nominations. She was the first Cuban female artist signed to Sony Music Latin since Celia Cruz, earning two Gold Records and one Platinum Record.
Opening the concert is Rodrigo Toscano, an experimental poet and activist, and the author of twelve books of poems. “Throughout his work, there is an interrogative momentum that crosses borders,” says The Poetry Foundation.
