Noel Nicola, 58; Cuban Composer, Co-Founder of Modern Trova Music
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Noel Nicola, 58, one of the founders of modern Cuban trova music, died Aug. 7 of cancer in Havana, his friends said.
Nicola was born in the Cuban capital in 1946, into a family of musicians. He was composing songs by the time he was 13. His first onstage performance came in 1968, next to Cuban greats Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes.
The trio and several others founded the modern Cuban trova movement; the music has its roots in troubadour ballads composed during the island’s wars of independence.
Modern Cuban trovas recall U.S. protest songs of the 1960s and ‘70s that focused attention on social problems through musical storytelling.
Nicola performed in more than 30 countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas.
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