Greetings and have a happy week. It's April 7, 2025, the season of Lent, and very close to Holy Week, a time of reflection. In any case, I hope you all have good health, prosperity, and happiness. And today I'm back with the Music community to participate in another MUSICAL MONDAY, the wonderful initiative created by @eugelys, where we can share our musical memories and experiences.
Gracias a mis padres, (especialmente a mi madre), tuve una infancia muy musical. Tuve la enorme suerte de estar constantemente en contacto con la música, y no sólo en radios o tocadiscos, sino en conciertos, retretas, festivales, etc. Recuerdo claramente que a mi hermano y a mí, desde pequeños, siempre que podían, papá y mamá nos llevaban constantemente a cuanto evento cultural o musical se celebrara cerca de casa. De este modo pude conocer y disfrutar en directo de recitales de estupendos músicos, y uno de estos fue LILIA VERA, una cantante de música folklórica venezolana, que actualmente a sus 73 años, sigue activa.
Thanks to my parents (especially by my mother), I had a very musical childhood. I was extremely fortunate to be constantly in contact with music, not just from the radio or record players, but also at concerts, retreats, festivals, and so on. I clearly remember that, from a young age, my father and mother would take my brother and me to any cultural or musical event taking place near our home whenever they could. This way, I was able to meet and enjoy live performances by wonderful musicians, one of whom was LILIA VERA, a Venezuelan folk singer who is still active at 73.
No recuerdo exactamente cuándo ví por primera vez cantar en vivo a LILIA VERA, pero debe haber sido a finales de los 70 o muy tempranos 80. Lo que sí recuerdo con gran claridad, es su fuerza vocal y su presencia en escena, demostrando su gran capacidad para cantar y cautivar al público. Luego de ese concierto, vinieron muchos más, ya que en ese tiempo el movimiento cultural en Venezuela era muy activo, y asistir a estas actividades era relativamente barato, así que yo, incluso de adolescente, no perdía oportunidad de ir a este tipo de eventos.
I don't remember exactly when I first saw LILIA VERA sing live, but it must have been in the late 70s or very early 80s. What I do remember very clearly is her vocal strength and stage presence, demonstrating her great ability to sing and captivate the audience. After that concert, many more came, since at that time the cultural movement in Venezuela was very active, and attending these activities was relatively cheap, so I, even as a teenager, never missed an opportunity to go to these types of events.
Yesterday afternoon I was thinking a lot about Dad, since he recently passed away one year ago, and I was also thinking about Mom, how far away she is and how difficult it will be to see her again, and those beautiful memories came to mind, and one of those events was a LILIA VERA concert, so I decided to share her music with you on today's MUSICAL MONDAY. Having said all that, let's look at my songs.
Mis canciones para este Musical Monday / My songs for this Musical Monday
It is a beautiful Venezuelan merengue: “UN HELADERO CON CLASE” (A CLASSY ICE CREAM MAN), a song that was composed by LUIS LAGUNA, and that is performed by LILIA VERA in a masterful way. When I was little, I liked this song a lot, because I was imagining the ice creams that the slogan of this beautiful song said. The image of my mother comes to mind, being in the kitchen, preparing some food, while that song played on the radio and she hummed it. It is a great song, of which I share an audio.
I continue my songs with the beautiful tune “CLAVELITO COLORADO” (LITTLE RED CARNATION), whose lyrics are by the Venezuelan poet ALBERTO ARVELO TORREALBA and the music by the great Venezuelan singer and folklorist SIMÓN DÍAZ (TÍO SIMÓN). Like any tune or milking song, it is very minimalist, because it only features the voice accompanied by a cuatro. Here you can clearly appreciate the great vocal quality of LILIA VERA, who shows off a wide range. This song reminds me of road trips with my family, because dad always had some kind of music player on every one, and this is the type of songs he loved to listen to while traveling. Here is the audio of this beautiful tune.
Y para finalizar este emotivo y bonito MUSICAL MONDAY, les comparto otra tonada, cuya letra también es de ALBERTO ARVELO TORREALBA y la música de SIMÓN DÍAZ, la hermosa “ARBOLITO SABANERO”, una canción que le gustaba mucho a papá y a mamá, porque es poesía hecha canción, y que también nos acompañaba en los viajes. También aquí se puede apreciar la gran voz de LILIA VERA. Por aquí les dejo el audio de esta singular pieza.
And to end this emotional and beautiful MUSICAL MONDAY, I share with you another tune, whose lyrics are also by ALBERTO ARVELO TORREALBA and the music by SIMÓN DÍAZ, the beautiful “ARBOLITO SABANERO” (SAVANNAH LITTLE TREE), a song that my dad and mom loved because it is poetry made into a song, and that also accompanied us on our trips. Here you can also appreciate the great voice of LILIA VERA. Here I leave you the audio of this unique piece.
Esta ha sido mi participación de esta semana para esta estupenda iniciativa de @eugelys, compartiendo con todos ustedes parte de mis recuerdos de infancia, así como las canciones de LILIA VERA
This has been my participation this week for this wonderful initiative by @eugelys, sharing with all of you some of my childhood memories, as well as the songs of LILIA VERA>
- Las foto de portada está adecuadamente identificada // The cover photo is properly identified
- Los divisores son de libre uso y se pueden encontrar / Dividers are free to use and can be found:
Todo el contenido, (excepto la foto de portada, los enlaces de YouTube y los divisores), es de mi propiedad y está sujeto a derechos de autor // All content (except the cover photo, YouTube links and dividers), is my property and subject to copyrigh
Delegations welcome!
