Music documentary from Wim Wenders about the Cuban Band Buena Vista Social Club.
By the end of this lovingly crafted musical documentary you will have been taken by Ruben’s quiet charm, Ibrahim’s gentle bravado, Compay’s sassy dignity, and Omara’s Divaness, remaining in awe of their talents several hours after the film ends.
The Cuban album that inspired the Wim Wenders movie now in theaters. Cuban music is enjoying its place in the sun and rightfully so. For some Old School Cuban the Buena Vista Social Club, produced by Ry Cooder, is a sure favorite. A group of long forgotten but still alive and kicking musicians were found and banded together to make a musical recording that went on to win a Grammy and explode internationally.
What could bring Jennifer Lopez and Alanis Morissette to the same venue? Try a night at the Art Deco Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles for a concert featuring pianist Ruben Gonzalez and singer Ibrahim Ferrer of the now legendary Buena Vista Social Club.
"La Chica Mas Sexy de Cuba", as anointed by her onstage beau, Ibrahim Ferrer, has finally released her own solo effort. Solo only in so many words, as many musicians from the original Buena Vista Social Club appear, only this time they are playing her song. Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Cachaito Lopez, Eliades Ochoa, Compay Segundo are all here as well as many other accomplished musicians who make this truly a dream band.
The excitement of the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon has passed, though not without converting more than a few people eager to hear more from that influential little island. On Ry Cooder's latest release he not only takes us back to Cuba, but he takes us back in time to futuristic Cuban lounge.
Eliades Ochoa seems like the lone cowboy of the Buena Vista Social Club. Photographer Anton Corbjin captured that quality for the cd cover. He has been annointed as the keeper of Cuban guajira music, the godfather of Guajira & Roll, if you will. On his first U.S. release, he covers 15 songs of different periods in Cuban musical history.
El Viejo Compay is already onto his second release while the rest of his bandmates from the now legendary Buena Vista Social Club work on their first solo album. Segundo has cast a wider net this time around. Lucky for us, it’s more of the same beautiful songs sung by that unmistakable voice.
The following compilations are amalgams of widely different music that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. The New Latinaires is an antiserum of sound; a blend of techno and percussion that is long overdue while Beleza Tropical conquers itself with its range, leaving us with little sense of harmony. d'harmonie.
Cuba in 1994 was at her lowest. But, instead of walking around observing Cubans in their natural communist habitat like some sort of political zoo, it was much more interesting to mingle. Most of these were taken in the province of Pinar del Rio around May 1st as well as in Havana.
