Musician
Carlos Varela seeks to bridge U.S. and Cuban audiences
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[April 14, 2015]
By Saundra Amrhein
TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) -
Singer-songwriter Carlos Varela, dubbed "The Poet of
Havana," has walked a cultural tightrope in Cuba for
decades, questioning the island's communist government
in his lyrics, while also hitting out at Washington's
five-decades-old trade embargo.
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His songs earned him a following on both sides of the Florida
Straits despite their Cold War divide.
Artists hope the thaw in relations and a documentary about
Varela will allow them to bring audiences closer together in
both countries.
"The Poet of Havana," by Toronto-based film director Ron
Chapman, depicts Varela as a symbol of a generation of Cuban
artists born soon after the 1959 revolution who opted to stay in
Cuba rather than emigrate. Although they have grown
disillusioned with the island's communist system, they did not
actively seek to overthrow it.
The documentary, which premiered last month at the Gasparilla
International Film Festival in Tampa, will be shown in the
United States, Cuba and England. It features interviews with
actor Benicio Del Toro and American musician Jackson Browne, as
well as Cuban music critics and musicians.
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"There is a misperception about Cuba and Cuban music in the
world at large, more so in the United States because of the
embargo,” Chapman said in an interview.
Many people associate Cuban music only with the traditional
"son" music made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club
documentary and album. But Chapman said Cuba has produced many
other styles of music.
He was in Cuba working on another film when he came across
Varela’s music and loved it.
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"When I looked at the lyrics, I realized I was listening to an
exceptional artist of incredible depth," he said.
Varela's popular 1989 song, “Guillermo Tell,” recasts the William
Tell fable with the son seeking to switch roles and shoot an apple
on his father's head. It was widely interpreted as a metaphor for
younger Cubans speaking to Fidel Castro and the country's aging
leadership.
The film shows Varela during a U.S. visit with members of Congress
in 2009, when he sang “Walls and Doors,” with the lyrics, “There are
those who build walls and those who open doors.”
Regardless of how long the governments take to restore relations,
Varela said, artists have outpaced them.
"What we can demonstrate to the politicians on both sides is that as
artists we can accomplish that which politicians have not been able
to accomplish in more than 50 years," he said.
(Editing by David Adams, Patricia Reaney and W Simon)
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