Poignant irreverently funny songwriting. Edgy, explicit non patronizing lyrics, trova with world music fusion at its best

10 MP3 Songs
LATIN: Trova, LATIN: Cuban Pop

Show all album songs: Trova, No Oda Songs


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Marisela Verena's latest album,"TROVA, NO ODA", is a quirky, iconoclast tour de force of humor, wearing meaningful content on her sleeve sans the patronizing sermon supported by the superb musical arrangements of respected producer Ricardo Eddy.
Here's Marisela Verena at her witty best....quirky and most irreverent but honest and non patronizing. Trova, No Oda offers ten unedited songs composed and recorded by the Emmy winner, the most transcendental singer/songwriter of her generation. Arranged to perfection by the deservingly respected Ricardo Eddy Martinez, who also co-produced the album, every cut has been carefully crafted to musically enhance the lyrics and the voice. An instant classic.... A masterpiece!
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El más reciente álbum de Marisela Verena: âTROVA, NO ODAâ es un tour de force de inesperado e iconoclasta humor---con el mensaje a que nos tiene acostumbrados pero sin sermoneo. Lo sorprendente del contenido de âTrova, No Odaâ es que no regaña ni es despectivo. Es burla afectuosa, con respeto por la vida. Aguda pero no cruel, Verena no es blandengue aunque es grata...es atrevida pero nunca vulgar. Su nueva obra destila honestidad sobre el amor, el sexo y los asuntos morales y existenciales de nuestros tiempos.Este disco es un clásico instantáneo.

Marisela Verena is the foremost Cuban-American composer/author singer of her generation. Whether for her poetic lyrics, her sometimes pungent and witty songs, or her epic, transcendental musical works about her country she has earned a golden reputation among her peers and fans.

She is the recipient of numerous awards---among them an Emmy--, winner of the Billboard Song Contest, winner of the John Lennon Song Contest, has won several music festivals and her music has been recorded and is sought by performing artists,such as Celia Cruz,Alberto Cortés, Miliki, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Paloma San Basilio, Marco Antonio Muñiz, and Willy Chirino among others.


Marisela Verena Sends a Message
Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 09:50:30 AM

Marisela Verena

Marisela Verena has never sat down to compose a song â or sing one for that matter â with the idea itâs going to climb the charts or end up
getting regular airplay. Itâs the message sheâs trying to convey to the masses that concerns her most.

âI write and sing about what I feel while always trying to keep a sense of authenticity in my music,â says Verena. âIt should be clear by now
that Iâm not too concerned with the commercial side of the industry ... If my message gets across to the people I sing for then Iâve done my
job.â Such philosophy hasnât always made for a smooth ride but itâs hard to argue with the results the socially conscious and lyrically poetic

Verena has garnered since venturing out to follow her dreams 36 years ago. With ease for penning profound, witty and explicit lyrics â and never shy to border on political incorrectness - throughout most of her songs Verena has etched her place as one of the most innovative songwriters of this generation.

Her heartfelt interpretive skills and bombastic tune have always made for an easy connection between her and the audience. âItâs like being surrounded by your family only youâre singing what they want⨠to hear.â

And with multiple hits both as a composer and interpreter Verena has certainly given her most loyal supporters plenty to lash onto over the last four decades.

âThereâs nothing in life like doing what youâre passionate about and have a love for,â says Verena, who has routinely fused son with trova
in addition to possessing an orthodox singing style that is more⨠story-teller than anything else.â¨â¨âAnd Iâve been fortunate enough to live a good life doing what I love to do the most. I feel a great sense of satisfaction with the way things have turned out. â

With little regard for the consequences that might follow Verena has always expressed her feelings, whether they are about love, politics or
country, at every opportunity. But getting her message across wasnât always that easy.

Set on enriching her singing career and expanding her horizons she had no choice but to leave Miami for the then art-rich Puerto Rico as a
teenager in the early seventies.

âThe more I looked around the more Miami looked like a desert,â says Verena, who arrived from Cuba as part of the Pedro Pan movement in
1962. âI had gotten wind that there might be a better opportunity for me in Puerto Rico. They had three television stations, multiple radio
stations and a record company there at the time so it seemed like the right move.â

Still, overcoming the stigma of being a Cuban exile wasnât easy after arriving in Puerto Rico in 1971.

âA lot of doors were shut closed for me purely because I was a Cuban exile,â she says. âThere were a lot of people unwilling to give a chance.â

But being barred from various festivals, clubs and even being targeted with bomb threats didnât prevent her from developing a following at
various bohemian clubs, including El Ocho Puertas (The Eight Doors) in Old San Juan.

It was there that she sparked plenty of interest by singing socially influenced songs and material from nueva cancion stars like Joan Manuel Serrat and Violeta Parra while staying away from mainstream pop music. After expanding into Puerto Rican radio and television, Verena moved to Spain in the mid-Seventies where she signed with the CBS label and began to write her own songs.

âI came to the conclusion that writing my songs I could say what I wanted to say it and how I wanted to say it,â she says.

But a return trip to Puerto Rico in 1978 would prove to be golden as Verena won El Festival de La Voz y La Canción with âPais: Amorâ while
representing Spain.

The victory provided such a rush she elected to stay in Puerto Rico and record âTu Companeraâ (Your Companion) and âViento y Maderaâ (Wind and Wood), which produced a bevy of hits, including âTe Queda Grandeâ and âViaje Adentroâ (Inner Trip).

In 1989, she recorded âSon de las cuatro decadasâ (Son of the Four Decades) and âMemorandum para un tiranoâ (Memo to a Tyrant), which
quickly became anthems of sorts for Cubans in exile. But although sheâs quickly identified with dethroning the communist island through song, Verena is quick to point out her music stretches out beyond being strictly âCuban.â

âIts about more than just being Cuban,â she says. âMy music is for everybody - whether youâre from Puerto Rico, Colombia, Spain, etc., etc. that anybody can grasp no matter where youâre from.â