Old-time Cuban Genius (Buena Vista Social Club)

Member Name: JonnyM79

Product:	Buena Vista Social Club
Date:	26/04/02 (260 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Awesome talent, Vibrant enthusiasm, Too many more to mention

Disadvantages: Not in English

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 them. Ibrahim Ferrer is a 70 year old singer who lives in a tiny flat dominated by religious icons related to his strong faith. He was literally dragged in off the street from his daily walk around Havana. Ruben Gonzalez is a 77 year old pianist who had given up playing due to arthritis and doesn't even have a piano in his home. Such was the rekindling of his enthusiasm that at the start of each day's recording he would arrive first and literally run to the piano to start playing. "Cachaito" Lopez comes from a long dynasty of cuban bass players (both his father and uncle were acclaimed in their own right) and plays bass on almost every track. He has been a professional musician since joining a dance band at the age of 12. And that's just 3 of over 20 performers.

If you're wondering how I know so much about them then that brings us to the first outstanding feature of the album: the liner notes. Coming in a booklet is a profile of every musician on the album together with full lyrics in Spanish and their English translation. Add to this some fascinating session photos, Ry Cooder's thoughts on the session and a brief description of the style and history of every song on the album and it adds up to the finest packaging around a CD I've ever bought (
yes even cooler than Pink Floyd's Pulse and its flashing LED).

So to the music itself. 14 tracks of cuban history performed by a wide range of talent. From the opening "Chan Chan" with its haunting chords, deep vocals and deeply funky bass line to "Pueblo Nuevo" and "Murmullo" both featuring Ruben Gonzalez heavily and with a great melding of American jazz and a more distinctive Cuban sound, this is an album in turns hushed and seductive then exploding into a riot of latin grooves, trumpet breaks and joyful choruses. Songs range through ballads to mambo and other latin influences, with even a touch of American Country. For me the true star is Cachaito on the bass throughout the album, who's timing and inflections are stunning: I didn't know a bass could even make some of those noises. Jools Holland came up with a great description of him when he said "he's one of those bassists that when he starts playing the room lights up".

Listening to this album really is a priviledge, and the thought that many of these musicians were nearly lost to old age, obscurity and poverty is humbling. If you think this doesn't sound like your sort of music it doesn't matter: most of my collection is heavy guitar stuff and prog-rock, and I loved it! I never thought words in a foreign language could sound so emotional and so right, but I've started singing along even though I have no idea what they mean. Many of these performers, now that they've been recognised, have been snapped up to record solo albums, but I doubt we'll ever see such a concentration of raw unknown talent ever again.

Life-changing.

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