Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club is the project of the composer and guitarist Ry Cooder. Basically he has gone back into the past of Cuban music and explored some of the great musicians of their past. The thing that makes this album really special is that he then got hold of them and dragged them out of retirement to record. (in some cases for the first time ever) The result is not an album of withered old has-beens trotting out their wares one more time but an album that is almost alarmingly vibrant and alive, with the enthusiasm of newly re-energised musicians (some of whom are over 90) bursting through. The musicians featured have some great stories behind ...  Read the complete review

The "Buena Vista Social Club" album really started something. It made Cuban music truly popular for Western audiences, and also helped to attract many more people to the 'World music' genre. Ry Cooder produced the album, which resurrected several greats of the Cuban music scene, musicians whose heyday had been in the 50s and 60s, even the 40s in some cases. Huge record sales led to a tour for the band (including Ry Cooder, and his son Joachim on drums) of select venues (e.g. New York Opera House), a movie, and a stream of further CD releases from the various musicians involved. The first important thing is that Ry Cooder definitely does ...  Read the complete review

You can read one of the other reviews about the album. What I have to rave about is their live performance. Buena Vista Social Club are named after a club in Havana that was demolished decades ago. In true spirit, this is music from a bygone era and should be heard whilst it's still around. I was fortunate enough to catch them in the US. What a sense of an event. A collection of 70 - 90something year olds showing the young ones how it's done. Ruben Gonzalez and Ibrahim Ferrera stole the show easily, Ruben with his happy-go-lucky manner and clear adoration for the piano which he almost plays WITH, Ibrahim with his velvety smooth ...  Read the complete review

In 1999 you couldn't get away from the cuban revolution that is typified by the superstars of the Buena Vista Social Club. The CD,as an accompaniment to the internationally acclaimed Ry Cooder documentuary film, is a beautiful taster of what this group of talent can really do. The group itself are huge and varying, including favourites like Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez, Eliades Ochoa and Cachito. But it is maybe the fantastic sound when the group come together that makes this album so beautiful. There is a lovely old feeling about the music, with an almost classical hint, and a very lazy, relaxed side to some of the ...  Read the complete review

This album opened the world up to a completely new type of music, Cuban. The music and stars of the Buena Vista Social Club are actually very old, but Ry Cooder (and American musician) gathered the artists together for this first album. The music is very easy listening latin, everyone seems to like it even on the first listen, which is unusual because latin music is not popular in Europe. There are various latin styles, but it is easiest to just explain it as slow, lazy latino. The artists have all become massive stars and so Ry Cooder got them to release their own albums after this. However this first collection of songs in the benchmark. All of ...  Read the complete review