A recent guest blog post by documentary filmmaker Harald Himsel talks about his quest for Silvio Rodríguez, one of the founders of the Cuban musical movement known as the Nueva Trova. Starting in the late sixties, and with strong connections to the Chilean Nueva Canción (”New Song”) movement, Nueva Trova singer-songwriters saw themselves as messengers for the ideals and goals of the Cuban Revolution. Over the years, this revolutionary zeal has given way to more nuanced and critical views of the realities of Cuban life today, frequently expressed in the form of passionate and hauntingly beautiful love ballads. Here is an introduction to Nueva Trova, starting with its best-known ambassadors — Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés — as well as some of its other originators, while also looking at younger singers that have taken the genre in new directions:

Silvio Rodríguez — Unicornio
Pablo Milanés — El Breve Espacio en que no Estás
Vicente Feliú — Créeme
Noel Nicola – Comienzo el Día
Amaury Perez — Amigos Como Tu y Yo
Sara Rodriguez — La Guitarra
Santiago Feliú — Buscame
Carlos Varela — Desde Aquel Día en que lo Dividieron Todo
Karel García — Palabras Quedan
Liuba María Hevia — Ausencia