Performance

Una Palabra

1 upcoming performance in New York

“Una Palabra” sits in the Rock/Pop register Carlos Varela has used for more than three decades to write about Cuba’s daily pressures and private hopes. The song’s power comes less from volume than from its literary economy, letting a small phrase carry moral and emotional weight. At NJPAC, Varela appears with Carlos Varela Y Su Banda, keeping the emphasis on words within a band-driven frame. No documented NYC premiere history is widely cited, but the piece has long circulated in New York’s Cuban and Latin music listening culture as a touchstone for reflective songwriting.