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• culture an traditions
• Culture and Traditions
• Havana
• history
• Literature
• Music
• national
• personalities
• Personalities
• 02 / 21 / 2010

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Siempre Compay (Forever Compay), a text by Lino Betancourt on the legendary Cuban musician, was presented on Saturday at the 19th edition of Havana’s International Book Fair.

During the launching of the new title, carried out at the Jose Antonio Portuondo Hall of the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, Elisa Pardo, the book’s editor, pointed out that it includes interviews with Maximo Francisco Repilado (internationally known as Compay Segundo) that are rich in details on the life and work of the late Grammy winner and the period in which he developed his art.

She said that, in addition to an excellent depiction of Compay and a selection of the most outstanding features of this troubadour and son rhythm performer, the text includes references to other great representatives of Cuban traditional music, like Sindo Garay and Miguel Matamoros.

A guitarist, a clarinetist and a composer, Compay Segundo had a fruitful artistic live, during which he represented, with his special charisma, Cuban music in many countries from around the world.

The book, the second by Betancourt on this exceptional figure, collects even the last moments of his existence and testimonies by the artist himself on the reasons inspiring his compositions.

Another of the virtues of this volume, printed by the Jose Marti Publishing House, is the inclusion of very little known aspects of the development of traditional music in eastern Santiago de Cuba province, which contributed many talents to the island’s culture, of which Compay Segundo is one of its top exponents.

Compay Segundo died in Havana in 2003, at the age of 95.

Source: ACN