Last month was the 10th anniversary of the release of the Ry Cooder-produced Buena Vista Social Club album, one that, both here in the US and abroad, sparked a mainstream wave of interest in old school Cuban music; gave much-deserved exposure and revitalized the careers of musicians that had been largely forgotten—some of whom have, sadly, died in the years since—and sold more than 5 million copies in the process. Not bad for an album that came about by accident.
As it turned out, the Paris-based African musicians Cooder was to record in Cuba were not able to make it in time to participate in the already booked recording sessions, so with the invaluable assistance of respected Cuban bandleader/musician Juan de Marco Gonzalez—who was working on his own tribute to the golden era of Cuban music with the Afro-Cuban All-Stars—many of these still-vital artists were located and recorded what for many non-Spanish speakers—and a newer generation of Latinos—became a great (re)introduction to Cuban music from back in the day. (Those African guys must've been really pissed afterwards. Jealous, too.)
We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Cooder upon the album’s release and were invited to the premiere of the Wim Wenders documentary that bears the album’s name, and still marvel at the wonder of the music and the performances, not to mention how 10 years have flown past. Our favorites include: the lead-off track, the legendary Compay Segundo’s “Chan Chan”—subsequently covered by noted Mexican prog-rockers (!) La Barranca; Ibrahim Ferrer’s heartfelt rendition of the classic bolero “Dos Gardenias”; and the hawaiian/son hybrid “Orgullecida”.
Salud, caballeros!
