Story to go with the remarkable version of "Guantanamera": 75 Cuban musicians join to play ‘Guantana
75 Cuban musicians join to play ‘Guantanamera’
Geisel Garcia • August 3, 2014
We can’t say for sure if a haughty peasant girl inspired the popular Cuban song ‘Guantanamera,’ but we can say that the song expresses the cross-breeding of our native music and conveys it to the world in a universal tune.
That was acknowledged by Pete Seeger in 1963, when he played at Carnegie Hall the version with José Martí’s verses that Julián Orbón played in Havana get-togethers.
Also aware of that is Playing For Change (PFC), which has brought together 75 Cuban musicians to play ‘Guantanamera’ in a version that condenses the diversity of Cuban music today.
The result is a project of brotherhood, says Luis Conte, the renowned Cuban percussionist. “It is a project of humanity and emotion, of brotherhood among Cubans, of friendship and love for Cuba. We are from that place, and music binds us together.”
The fact is that music, perhaps Cuba’s most original creation, is a product of the mixture and wealth of its roots and, above all, a living expression of identity for all Cubans.
Playing for Change’s ‘Guantanamera’
The song is one of eight pieces in the DVD “Playing for Change 3: Songs Around the World,” produced by U.S. singer/composer Jackson Browne.
PFC went to Barcelona, Havana, Los Angeles, Miami, Santiago de Cuba and Tokyo to bring Cuban musicians together in a pluralistic ‘Guantanamera.’
Papa Orbe Ortiz, a Santiago musician living in Barcelona, says that “not since the Buena Vista Social Club have so many Cuban musicians gotten together. It is an encounter between musicians in Cuba and outside, where there is no room for politics or anything else that isn’t music and love.”
More:
http://progresoweekly.us/75-cuban-musicians-join-play-guantanamera/
(The song was posted here by Mika, I think, when it was released. It's also included at the bottom of this story.)
= new reply since forum marked as read
I saw Pete Seeger perform this live several times. 
--imm
