HAVANA, Aug. 24 -- Cuba, in particular its southern province of Cienfuegos, is celebrating the 100th birthday of the island's most famous composer and singer of popular music, Benny More.
Born in 1919, in Santa Isabel de las Lajas, a town in Cienfuegos, about 250 km southeast of Havana, More is remembered every Aug. 24 in his hometown, and his centenary celebrations are now seen across the whole island.
As every year, people in Santa Isabel de las Lajas marched from the main square to the grave of the artist, now a national monument. Families, friends, artists and music fans laid flowers and sang his songs along the way to the monument.
A cultural gala "Waiting for the Centenary" was held Friday evening at the Benny More Cultural Art Center in Cienfuegos, where several acknowledged music bands from the island performed.
For the people of Cienfuegos, More is a symbol of Cuba's musical excellence. A life-size bronze in central Cienfuegos Municipality, the capital city of the province, marks people's reverence for the artist.
The statue has become a must-see attraction for visitors since its erection in 2004.
"Benny is the symbol of Cienfuegos, but he is a figure that goes beyond this province because he was a true musical genius who made the Cuban music known to the world," Adelina Gonzalez, a teacher, told Xinhua.
Son of a single mother and grandson of African slaves, Bartolome Maximiliano More, his real name, was nourished by his ethnic African roots together with the Spanish music traditions.
As a child, he learned to play the guitar and sang at parties until he moved to Havana in 1940, where he spent years performing in cafes, streets and parks.
In 1945 he joined the famous Matamoros band and started an international career in Mexico that would take him in the next two decades to Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Jamaica, Haiti and the United States.
The peak of his career came with the creation of his own "The Giant Band," which he called "The Tribu." It debuted in the Cuban capital on Aug. 3, 1953.
The musical genius did not stop working during his last days when he suffered from liver cirrhosis. He died of the disease at the age of 43 on Feb. 16, 1963.
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修7《Unit 1 Living with technology》
河南省中原名校豫南九校2017届高三上学期第四次质量考评英语试卷
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修8《Unit 3 The world of colours and light》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修8《Unit 4 Films and film events》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用牛津译林版)语法专项突破:二、名词、冠词
结婚第一年你将学到的那些事儿
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用牛津译林版)语法专项突破:九、名词性从句
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修7《Unit 2 Fit for life》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修7《Unit 3 The world online》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修1《Unit 3 Looking good,feeling good》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修5《Unit 2 The environment》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修4《Unit 1 Advertising》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用牛津译林版)语法专项突破:八、定语从句
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修2《Unit 1 Tales of the unexplained》
为什么越南人爱中国
2000美元的披萨长啥样 鹅肝、松露配24k黄金
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修6《Unit 2 What is happiness to you》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修8《UNIT3-4》佳作晨背·文思泉涌
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修8《Unit 1 The written world》
束腰大衣,蕾丝裙,裸色船鞋 凯特王妃的6大穿搭密术
2016届高考英语一轮复习 语法专题 形容词和副词 外研版
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修5《Unit 1 Getting along with others》
政府偷偷把学生的学费上调
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修3《Unit 3 Back to the past》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用牛津译林版)语法专项突破:六、情态动词和虚拟语气
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修7《Unit 4 Public transport》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修8《Unit 2 The universal language》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修6《Unit 1 Laughter is good for you》
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版选修6《UNIT1-2》句型公式妙笔生花
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修2《Unit 2 Wish you were here》