More than 200 songs that José Antonio Ceballos Rivas performed, most of them co-authored with other composers, were captured in the book “De mi pluma las songs. Cancionero Vivo”, which contains the lyrics and scores of the songs, as well as QR codes that lead to interpretations by various singers.
The book will be presented next Tuesday the 25th, at 7 p.m. at the Palacio de la Música, and there will be no shortage of interpretations of various songs contained in the songbook, which will be performed by several guest artists. José Antonio Ceballos indicates that the book contains 202 songs, of which only 10 are his own in lyrics and music, and the rest are co-authored with 12 other authors, including Armando Manzanero, Sergio Esquivel, Angélica Balado and Felipe de la Cruz.
He says that he wanted to make this book-songbook, because although some of its songs are known locally, others are not, and his intention is to record that other series of songs that have not been sung or that have not been arranged yet. It is a way to “save them from oblivion”. As part of this process, and of removing the songs from the drawers, the songs have been shared on platforms such as YouTube or Spotify, a work in which Beatriz Grajales helped him, and before her, Lalo Rodríguez, also a musician, who died last year.
To make the selection of the themes that he included in the book, he points out that he looked at the lyrics, those in which feelings, emotions, conclusions are shared, and he also made sure that he liked the music as well.
In total he selected 202 songs, only one of these is not his own, as it is a song that Lalo Rodríguez made for him, in which the lyrics are an acronym of his name, and which he included in the songbook as a memory of his friend. The songs that he has co-authored, in addition to the composers already mentioned, are with: Eduardo Rodríguez, Fernando Vadillo, José Novelo, Maricarmen Pérez, Pablo Aldrete, Roberto Andrade, Roberto Arcila and Willy Burgos.
With some of these he has 2 or more songs, as is the case with Sergio Esquivel with whom he has two, while with Manzanero 18, but with the one who has the largest number of co-authored compositions it is with Felipe de la Cruz, since there are just over 100 that are included in the book.
It is structured as follows: Dedication, thanks, a reflection on trova, presentation, a profile of José Antonio Ceballos, advice to composers expressed by Armando Manzanero, and then the songs compiled by authors.
The names of the authors and a photo of them begin each section, followed by a list of the songs made in co-authorship, to then give way to the lyrics of each of the songs, accompanied by the part, and below a QR code, which when scanned leads directly to the reproduction of the song in question. Hence the name “living songbook”.
Clarify that some of the songs have arrangements, and others do not.
At the presentation, José Antonio Ceballos will be accompanied by the city’s chronicler, Gonzalo Navarrete Muñoz, who will make some comments about the book, as will Maricarmen Pérez, performer and ambassador of Yucatecan music.
At the same time, a concert will be offered with the participation of the singers: Beatriz Grajales, Felipe de la Cruz, Javier Alcalá, Lenny Sánchez, Mauricio Zoreda, Aeda Fernanda, Jesús Armando, Roberto Andrade and Víctor Martínez.
The arrangements and musical direction will be in charge of José Carlos Milan.
Admission to the book presentation and concert is free. The book will be on sale that day.— IRIS MARGARITA CEBALLOS ALVARADO