BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB

Formed: 1996, Cuba

Members: Ry Cooder, acoustic and electric slide guitars, dobro, oud, bolon, marimba, percussion (born Los Angeles, California, 15 March 1947); Ibrahim Ferrer, vocals, bongos, clave (born Santiago, Cuba, 1927); Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, conductor, vocals, guiro (born Havana, Cuba, 1954); Ruben Gonzalez, piano (born Cuba, 1920); Pio Layva, percussion (born Cuba, 1917); Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, bass (born Cuba, c. 1940s); Eliades Ochoa, vocals, guitar (born Santiago, Cuba, 1946); Omara Portuondo, vocals (born c. late 1920s); Compay Segundo, vocals, guitar, congas (born 1908; died 15 July 2003).

Genre: World

Best-selling album since 1990: Buena Vista Social Club Soundtrack (1997)

Buena Vista Social Club is a group of musicians named for a Havana, Cuba, club that was a cultural, musical hub in the late 1940s and 1950s. The musicians who comprised the group in the 1990s came together thanks to the work of American musician Ry Cooder. Cooder's interest in the group of aging Cuban maestros, many of them in their sixties, seventies, and even older, resulted in a Grammy Award for Best Tropical/Latin Album and a self-titled documentary, directed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders. In their native homeland, the men are well known and respected, but their international performing careers were cut short with the rise of Communist leader Fidel Castro in the 1960s. Consequently, musicians such as Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoca, and Compay Segundo were largely unknown outside their country prior to the album and documentary. The album was an unexpected commercial and critical smash hit, achieving gold status in a little over two years after its release and going platinum by 2000.

The eclectic and curious guitarist and producer Cooder was fascinated with this group of musicians and wanted to tell their story and share their music with the rest of the world. He visited Cuba in 1996 and met with singer Ferrer, whose soft, smooth, and airy voice Cooder describes as sounding like a Cuban Nat King Cole. There are contributions such as "Chan Chan" from guitarist Compay Segundo and a cover of "De Camino a la Veranda," a 1950s song by seventy-two-year-old composer Ferrer. The group's romantic sound and excellent musicianship transcend language; the album's liner notes provide an English translation of lyrics. The music is bittersweet, stirring; the musicians' love for their culture's guitar-based music is unmistakable.

The album and film's stunning success paved the way for the release of the back catalogs of many of the musicians involved, bringing the music of Cuba to a much larger audience.

Spot Light: Buena Vista Social Club Documentary

The Cuban musicians who comprise the Buena Vista Social Club in Wim Wenders's 1999 documentary film were part of the golden era of popular Cuban music. Musician Ry Cooder and Wenders worked together when Cooder scored Wenders's film Paris, Texas (1984). The documentary, shot on digital video by Wenders and later transferred to film, is a humble, uncluttered look at the individuals, their lives, and their stories. The film and its soundtrack introduced the music to the world, and enabled these musicians to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Club toured the world; their shows were impassioned, sellout successes. The players kept up a demanding tour schedule, and several members put together their own releases and corresponding tours. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1999.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Buena Vista Social Club (Nonesuch, 1997); Introducing . . . . Ruben Gonzalez (Nonesuch, 1997); Buena Vista Social Club presents Ibrahim Ferrer (Nonesuch, 1999); Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo (Nonesuch, 2000).

SELECTIVE FILMOGRAPHY:

Buena Vista Social Club (1997).

carrie havranek