“It was hard work, but in the end I think people accepted it very well and they see the feeling, the tonality of his voice. I think it gave the song a twist, because ‘Patria y Vida’ is also solemn. “, Pardillo told EFE on Friday about the version of the iconic song released this week.
Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), the new version of “Patria y Vida” features Celia Cruz and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who join the authors of the topic: Yotuel Romero, Gente De Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo (imprisoned on the island since 2021) and the rapper known as El Funky.
After a few trumpet notes, Celia enters at the beginning of the song and sings, “And you are my siren song / For with your voice my sorrow disappears.”
According to Pardillo, it is the idea of the Spanish singer and actress Beatriz Ahora and her husband, the Cuban singer Yotuel Romero.
“When they presented it to me, I was worried that people would take it the wrong way, but no, everything that has emerged around the song has been very positive. Celia’s voice is there, and moreover, I am convinced that: “If she had If she had been alive, Celia would have made ‘Patria y Vida’,” he said.
Luengo and Yotuel “came about a month and a half ago to introduce me to the idea,” said Pardillo, who met “La guarachera de Cuba” when he was 14 years old and today heads a foundation that bears his name . The version “wasn’t like now, everything was a bit rougher and I was really impressed,” he added.
“Obviously if I hadn’t recognized Celia Cruz’s voice there, I wouldn’t have accepted it,” he added.
Earlier this year, Luengo made her film directorial debut with a documentary about the song, titled “Patria y Vida: the power of music.”
The emblematic song was awarded two Latin Grammys in 2021: ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Urban Song’.
Pardillo is “proud” that the public “continues to remember Celia,” and even more so this year, which marks the twentieth anniversary of her death.
Last July, the Cuban singer was commemorated in the shrine dedicated to the virgin patron saint of Cuba in Miami, where a choir sang the song “Guantanamera” as a tribute on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his death.
“The guarachera of Cuba and the world”, as her relatives who attended the tribute said, died on July 16, 2013 and in Miami the anniversary was commemorated in advance as the central event of the commemorations took place in New York.
According to Pardillo, a street named after Celia will be inaugurated in the city of Miami Beach next week.
“I’m very happy, it’s another achievement for her legacy,” said Pardillo, recalling that streets in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Miami have already been named after the artist.
“In Havana it will be done one day and I hope it will not be too far away. I think that there, more than in a street, they have to do many more things” about Celia Cruz, he concluded.
Source: El heraldo

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