Buena Vista Social Club

I must have asked three seperate times what was playing--the information wasn't sticking because of the distractions, but the music did stick and made a strong impression on me. I bought a copy the next day and haven't played a recording over and over like this since I was a teenager.

The simple arrangements and instumentation are powerful. A guitar, trumpet, conga, saxophone, and vocals that sound as if they are from another time are often all there is to make this gem come alive. The disc is beautifully recorded, yet still sounds as if you have stepped back into the 1950s in Cuba.

I wish I spoke Spanish (more than my mediocre ability to order food at the local bodega) so I could REALLY enjoy this wonderful recording, but it's not necessary. The music speaks for itself and the meaning of the songs are fairly obvious. But to satisfy your curiosity there is a translation included with the Spanish lyrics so you can read along and get the gist even if you aren't Cuban.

This is certainly an essential recording to add to your collection. I expect I will be giving this to several people I know for gifts. No holiday required. It will add texture to any party you choose to play it and it will take the edge off a work day from hell. Cook dinner for yourself and put this on while you chop and saute. You might even find yourself dancing a bit...


Beautifully romantic   June 16, 2000
Primoz Peterlin (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
31 out of 33 found this review helpful

This is the album that started all the recent Cuban craze. A simplified version of the story: Son, danzon and bolero were played in thrifty clubs in Havana before WWII and in years following it. Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo and the rest were masters of the art. Then in 1959 Castro liberated - or invaded, as you like it - Cuba and virtually isolated it from the rest of the world. And while outside the music became MTV-ized and globalized to the point where the music produced in Sweden is indistinguishable from that made in California, the guys in Cuba continued to do what they did best: they played son, danzon and bolero - all until Ry Cooder discovered them in 1997 and turned them into a success that vastly overshadowed his own musical efforts.

Actually, getting them together required some detective work, as some of them have already given up their musical careers. Hardly surprising: Ruben Gonzales is 80, and Compay Segundo is 92. Buena Vista Social Club - named after an actual club in Havana, demolished already for decades - provides an anthological overview of styles played 50 years ago, and the sound you might recognize on your father's (or grandfather's) LP's. Well, almost - Ry Cooder felt the urge to put some peronal touch on the whole thing, in form of slide guitar (cf. "Orgullecida"). I wish he could resist the temptation. Still, it's a very beautiful and romantic record, one that makes you ask your sweetheart for a dance.

CD comes with a 48-page booklet, which includes bilangual (Spanish/English) lyrics and some accompanying text. If you like this record, you might also want to check the solo albums that followed. There is also a pseudo-documentary movie by the same name, directed by Wim Wenders. And, go and check whether Afro-Cuban All Stars are touring somewhere near you.


Simply...amazing   April 22, 2003
Frances Y. Italiano (Detroit, MI United States)
28 out of 29 found this review helpful

During a trip to Paris a few years ago, my aunt (knowing I had an affinity for Latin Jazz) took me to see a movie. I was so perturbed all the way to the cinema, dreading the idea of spending an afternoon in a movie theater while being in arguably the most beautiful and culturally splendid cities in the entire world. Two hours later my life had changed. I had discovered something that has since become so integrated into my personal defintions of "music," "passion," and "life" that I still wonder how I could have once lived without knowing this music. That movie was "The Buena Vista Social Club."

The music is the quintessence of "breathtaking." The story-telling poetry and conflagrant rhythms will hold your attention from the opening strums of "Chan Chan" all the way through the fading seconds of "La Bayamesa." I could not possibly recommend any other album more highly than this one. If you are a music lover in the purest sense, you have to own this CD. I also highly suggest renting/buying the documentary to fully appreciate the stories behind the performers and songs. Their personalities alone will endear you to some of the most talented and passionate yet almost tragically forgotten artists ever.

The Buena Vista Social Club literally changed my life...and I have my stubborn old aunt to thank for it.


Buena Vista Social Club   April 27, 2000
Eric (Peoria, IL)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful

Imagine this. It is an idle, hazy summer afternoon. The immense heat shifts the air and it shimmers slightly. Noisy children run about the street bare-footed, un carretero alegre (cart-driver) slowly clods down the narrow streets while the shoddy buildings which rise on both sides of the streets are filled with bustle. Admist all of this, from a small bar a gentle guitar emnates from the doorway accompanied by exotic bongos and haunting trumpet sounds. Who would have thought? Nutured and nestled on a stretch of island known as Cuba, south of Florida, a creative energy and cultural phenomenon brewed while largely ignored. Shut off from the rest of the world, for over 150 years, Cuban music has had time to grow and take new exciting forms. Thanks to worldly traveled producer Ry Cooder, Cuban music has been brought into the light again. Buena Vista Social Club refers to an old members-only social club located in East Havana. So the idea was born, Ry Cooder travelled to Cuba gathering aged overlooked Cuban musicians, masters of their art, to create a record proving that true roots still remain a compelling artistic force. With artists like Ricky Martin or Marc Antony offering up latin music in an easy-to-swallow digestible pop music for the public, Buena Vista Social Club serves it up raw and original. Seeped in tales of local folklore or bits of ambient wisdom scattered throughout, Buena Vista Social Club represents a collective tale of an entire culture.

Buena Vista Social Club kicks in with "Chan Chan", a slow, swaggering, guitar melody. Hypnotic and almost trance-like, it tells the tale from Cuban folklore. "Como sacudia el 'jibe/A Chan Chan le daba pena!" Even if you can't understand the Spanish, the music is enough to convey the message, but even so the Spanish language has an untouchable grace, and you find yourself trying to form the words to sing along. The toe-tapping "De Camino a La Vereda" showcases such instruments as the dumbek, the mbira, or the laoud. One of the highlights throughout the entire album is singer Ibrahim Ferrer. Ferrer's frayed soft voice is powerful when channeled through the music. Other highlights inlcude 77 year old pianist Ruben Gonzalez and guitarist Compay Segundo. "Pueblo Nuevo" features Gonzalez's funky, folky piano solo. "Candela", with its sexual innuendeo, has the catchy harmonious chant chorus. "Ay candela, candela, candela, me quemo ae". While it won't find a place on a dance floor or a club, all the songs in Buena Vista Social Club are irresistably danceable. You will either find yourself snapping fingers, tapping your feet, or swaying your head back and forth. Complex, mezmerizing, sophisticated and rhythmic, Buena Vista Social Club is a wonderful work of art, combining the efforts of musicians who truly love the music they do. They play with a passion as if this were the last day they would ever play. Their efforts showed and was well-received all over the world and was a Grammy-winner. It spawned a Oscar-nominated feature documentary and solo-efforts by Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo. Buena Vista Social Club, like the history of its name suggested, is like a members-only social Club. Except this time...welcome, you've been invited to the party.


Poetry and a Rare Gift: A Look into the Cuban Soul   July 21, 2000
Andres R. Guevara (Aurora, CO United States)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

After years of neglect, some of the greatest musicians of Cuban music were brought together by Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos to create magic. This album is a rare treat to fans of Cuban music, specifically, and for fans of great music of all varieties. These songs, performed by by a variety of greats such as Ruben Gonzalez (one of the great son pianists: son is the name for the uniquely Cuban rhythm), Compay Segundo (who is currently 93), and Ibrahim Ferrer, are poetic in verse and hypnotic in rhythm. How can you listen to Chan Chan without feeling yourself floating along the avenues of Havana or the streets of Santa Clara.

My mother, who like my father was born in Cuba (from Pinar de Rios, a town near Havana), had heard some of these great musicians many years ago in their youth. How wonderful that they are here again to give the world the beautiful music of Cuba.

Please do your soul a favor and purchase this album. And don't stop there. Many of the band members have formed as the Afro-Cuban All Stars and there are also wonderful albums of Ibrahim Ferrer and Reuben Gonzalez. Absolutely perfect!

Just sit back and sail away on the sounds of Reuben Gonzalez' piano in "Murmullo" (and yes, that is a Hawaiian riff in the song) or dance the night away with your loved one as you croon along with Ferrer in "Dos Gardenias" or marvel at Eliades Ochoa's guitar in El Cuarto de Tula.