Pablito Milanes, one of the pillars of the Cuban Nueva Trova movement, was hospitalized in Buenos Aires, Argentina, victim of pancreatitis that forced him to postpone his concert at the legendary Gran Rex.
The author of classics like Yolanda and Para Vivir got food poisoned and had to be taken to a hospital. Milanes was also scheduled to perform at the edition of the 53 Festival Musical September in the northern city of Tucuman.
At 70 years of age, the Cuban troubadour must rest for 24 hours following the admission, on Thursday. His recital at Rex is now on Saturday, if he feels healthy, organizers said.
Pablito had just arrived in Argentina to present his album Renaissance, in which he is reunited with rhythms of Cuban music such as son, guaguancó, changüí, the Danzon, La Guajira and conga. In an interview days ago he had complained about the superficiality of contemporary music.
“Weak, shallow, lacking poetry, feelings and technique” were some of the epithets that he dedicated to contemporary trends. This is an author who has been characterized as much by singing poetry as to speak his mind, not afraid to get wet both artistically and intellectually, even if this entails a political cost.
In that string, Renaissance lives up to its name, after four years of apparent creative crisis. “Before anything could make me create a song,” he said in another recent interview, noting he no longer makes things so wildly, since he knows his trade better.
True to his music and his audience, Milanes was presented recently in Cuba, in an intimate concert in the Lazaro Pena theater that is starting to emerge from anonymity. The people here enjoyed a lot, hopefully in Buenos Aires and Tucuman they can enjoy it just as soon as possible…
