Thursday 2 February 2012

Che Guevara in Kilkee, September 1961



"The piece of music that soundtracks this film was written in early 2008 in GarageBand on Apple Mac. 'Cha Che' mixes traditional Cuban sounds with layers of Irish bodhran and Irish voices - a strange mixture but one that proved to work very well. The reason for attempting the mix whilst working was the obvious link between Cuba and Che Guevara as the face on the iconic poster we all know but with the added knowledge that he was actually a South American revolutionary with Irish ancestors! During his travels as a young man across South America he had become outraged at the poverty and harsh treatment of people that he saw in many corrupt countries. Once finished, though, this piece of music had to sit and wait for some lyrics or for a context to appear to finish its story. In late 2011 that context arrived! Browsing the web I came across video clips and news reports of Guevara's several unscheduled stop-overs in Ireland whilst in transit. RTE News provided me with the story that the music had been waiting for. Fog bound, Che Guevara and his party found themselves at Shannon airport and made a detour to visit to the seaside town of Kilkee, Co. Clare. Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick was working in a bar and immediately recognised the man. Jim later went on to produce the world famous poster of Che Guevara which was the very reason for the mix of Cuban and Irish sounds in 'Cha Che'. What's more, Kilkee had also held a festival to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Che's visit!" Posted on Youtube on the 19th of December 2011 by theyellowfactory.

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