Giraldo Pilot: the wizard of the Drum Festival
Written by Administrator

Translated by / Eduardo Rodriguez Melis
Tuesday, April 02, 2013 00:00

By: Odalys Padilla

Source: RCH

With the dawn of March came the rumble of drums in Havana, announcing the beginning of a sacred ceremony for the percussionists of the musical Island of the Caribbean: Drum Party Guillermo Barreto In Memoriam.

The artistic work of Giraldo Piloto Barreto extends over more than 30 years of fruitful professional career, during which he has dedicated a good part of his time to the organization and the preparations for the celebration of this annual international event,
Where various rhythms and styles merge into the crucible of Cuban culture.

It is an exciting spectacle to observe how from his home, with a computer and the phones, fixed and mobile, he displayed his charisma and gained prestige to convince, mobilize and enthuse all those who in the end did their best in the enlightened scenario, thanks to The magic of the hides.

And it could not be otherwise for this Cuban professional, coming from a family of musicians, since his uncles were members of the best orchestras in Cuba. Her mother is an excellent teacher of solfeggio and piano, while her father, along with composer Alberto Vera formed the binomial Piloto y Vera, that left a deep mark on the Cuban musical creation. In this environment germinated Giraldo Piloto.

The director and founder of the band Klimax, graduated from elementary school at the Havana Conservatory Alejandro García Caturla and culminated his studies at the National School of Art in 1980. He immediately integrates the orchestra of the Tropicana cabaret, where he remains for seven years. An important milestone in his professional life was his passage through the popular orchestra NG la Banda, of which he was founder.

In 1995 he formed his current group (Klimax), with which he recorded more than seven albums and participated in different stages of the Cuban and international dance scene.

Of the Festival of the Drum Guillermo Barreto In Memoriam, precise that is the moment in which the present percussion shines with greater intensity. He argues that the drum joins dance in an indissoluble way, from its genesis, and they march along the same path allowing to offer a very broad idea of ​​the ancestral, Spanish and African cultural tradition.

Piloto Barreto adds that Cuba is an endless group of teachers and artists, thanks to the music schools, which can be appreciated in all its magnitude during the International Percussion Competition, held annually in the context of the Drum Festival.

He remembers that his uncle (Barreto), like Chano Pozo, Tata Güines and many other “rumberos” and “tamboreros” defenders of the Yoruba culture, did not have the opportunity that gives the Revolution to the new generations, but that to blow of innate talent and much Love bequeathed us this story that today serves to enrich and develop current music.

Finally he expressed to Radio Cadena Habana that he is a debtor of his ancestors and at the same time heir of knowledge and professionalism, of those who caressed the hides leather, whose sonar invites to the interminable dance that lead Cuban and Cuban.