Miami | 08.26.09
A decade or so ago, when I first saw Juanes, the now-world famous pop star and humanitarian was a shy and unassuming singer and guitarist in jeans and tennis shoes who was only starting to attract attention with a groundbreaking new album.
Fíjate Bien was an excellent recording, one in which the then-budding international sensation fused rock with traditional Colombian genres &mdash and spoke out against war-torn conditions of his homeland.
Then our rising star changed. Gone was the hunger that drove him to invention, the edge that signaled a new kind of performer. He became comfortable with the trappings of success, fell in love, began to dress better and show his softer side.
Sure, the hit albums kept coming. And they were good enough. But they lacked the energy of his first recording, the spark that had made him such an intriguing force.
For the fans, though, that wasn’t an issue. Our man kept just enough of the social commentary and guitar rifts to keep earlier fans interested while adding more songs of love and heartbreak to woo the young. Besides, his improved hairdo and appearances on award shows made him an idol. With a lovely wife, children and a posh home, he had acquired a great life.
But what good is being successful and rich if a man cannot make his mark on the world &mdash especially when other big-time stars have foundations and global causes?
So our star, who long before had fortuitously put aside his given name of Juan Esteban Aristizábal for the short and catchy Juanes &mdash after all, what superstar isn’t known by just one name? &mdash sought to use his fame for the greater good.
A foundation to help land mine victims was a good idea. And recently his “Peace Without Borders” concert on the Colombia-Venezuela border brought together other stars seeking to bridge the divide between the two nations. It’s all good.
Then Juanes stepped on a landmine. He announced that he would perform during a Sept. 20 concert at Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución with nueva trova singer Silvio Rodriguez and Cuban musical powerhouse Los Van Van. Also scheduled to perform are Puerto Rican singer Olga Tañón and Spanish crooner Miguel Bose.
Sounds like a great show. But in Miami, home to the second largest Cuban population outside of Havana, the reaction was predictably swift. Anti-Castro groups denounced the planned show. Other celebrities called the singer misguided, saying his show would not feed the Cuban people or free any political prisoners.
Juanes fought back with post on his Twitter feed, saying he loves Miami and Havana and is saddened by the half a century old war of words that divides them. And of course he said, the concert is about openness, not politics.
“There is a future for Cuba but we have to give them a hand, to help them, to open our minds to them, so that they will do so to us,” Juanes wrote.
To those who say it is wrong to go to Cuba because there is no freedom on the island, Juanes asked, “That is freedom?”
He makes a good point. Some of the same voices that decry the planned concert in Havana have long opposed performances by Cuba’s bands in Miami &mdash concerts that brought Cubans together.
But don’t think for a moment that Cuba’s hardliners will miss a chance to point out the continuing intransigence of those in Miami who would deny ordinary Cubans a chance to hear Latin American stars. Meanwhile, Havana likely is preparing for the day when relations between Cuba and the United States thaw and a flood of North American visitors pour onto the island &mdash many of them to absorb Cuban music, perhaps with other Latin American stars on the bill.
Such is the mess Juanes has stepped into while on his quest for worldwide relevance. Does he have the force of personality or moral authority to bridge that divide? No.
His tennis shoes aren’t yet so big. |♫|
PHOTO – 8sunshine
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