Silvio Rodríguez is a legend in Latin American folk music, one of the best singer-songwriters yet. He is now 74, so you can imagine the changes he has witnessed in the world and in his native Cuba. When he was young, his friend taught him to play the guitar and Rodríguez eventually came to be known for his chord picking style. He is the leader of the Nueva Trova movement, which is more political than traditional trova. Rodríguez was active in the Cuban Revolution. He has released 2 EPs (1968 and 1969), 17 studio albums (including one in 2020), 5 live albums and 3 collaborative albums! He has been busy creating beautiful and thought-provoking new songs during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Rodríguez in 1969 (Wikimedia Commons)

Here is a beautiful song by ‘Silvio’, Unicornio, that became very popular in Latin America. The performance is in a stadium packed with 90,000 people in Chile on March 31, 1990, 20 days after the ‘end’ of the transition to democracy following the brutal Pinochet military dictatorship. Pinochet’s violent reign was particularly damaging as it had ended the nearly four year period of democracy and socialism in Chile under President Salvador Allende, who was ousted in 1973 with support from the US CIA during the Cold War period. After so many years of fear-filled life under Pinochet, Chileans were relieved to have democracy. This concert captures joyful freedom and group unity.