Manager: Juanma Villar Betancort
Documentary
Year: 2023
Premiere: 10/11/23
★★★
‘Semilla del son’ is the name of the Cuban music compilation he produced Santiago Auseron In 1991. By then the journey of his band, Radio Futura, had come to an end, and he became increasingly interested and influenced by Cuba’s musical blend, in which the Cuban son was mixed with New Orleans jazz, rumba mixed with the blues of the Mississippi delta and African rhythms. As slaves to Spanish popular tunes, he created an alter ego named Juan Perro.
Thirty years after this compilation and the beginning of a musical journey that still continues, Perro/Auserón Juanma Villar stands in front of Betancort’s camera to tour the island from Santiago to Havana. In retrospect, this inaugural trip, during which he has visited Cuba on various occasions since 1984, allows him to chat with Cuban musicians, play with them, and spread his discourse about the current influence of a music that Spain wants to politically silence. As the protagonist states at the beginning of the documentary, this reminded him too much of a defeat, of the loss of one of his favorite colonies.
Auserón talks a lot, but he also listens and respects everyone who comes his way.From a guitarist from La Casa de la Trova who makes guitars for Compay Segundo, to some musicians from the Baracoa region, with whom he performs Cuban sounds without any ties.