WIDR World

Mercedes Sosa, an Argentine musician and activist, has passed away at the age of 74. The singer was a supporter of leftist causes, and as a result spent several years in exile in Paris and Madrid. She was named a Goodwill Ambassador by UNESCO, and won several Latin Grammies for her work. Though her focus was on traditional folk music in Argentina, she eventually worked with a wide range of other musicians, including Cuba’s Silvio Rodiriguez, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, pop musician Sting, and many others. Find a great article about her life at the Washington Post’s web site.

Listen to today’s program for a few selections from her enormous catalog of recordings.

Over one million people jammed into the Plaza of the Revolution to hear the music of Colombia’s Juanes this afternoon. Also slated to take the stage were Spanish guitarist Miguel Bose, Cuban legends Silvio Rodriguez and  Los Van Van, Olga Tanon from Puerto Rico and several others. Juanes organized the concert as a statement of peace, but there was a fair amount of negative talk leading up to the event, including death threats against Juanes. Cuban-American performers like Gloria Estefan, who is critical of the Cuban government,  were invited to perform, but declined.

I understand that when things like this happen, they become political just by their very nature… but why can’t it just be about the music? Boggles the mind….