Buena Vista Social Club
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Free Music Notes for Buena Vista Social Club
Free Music Review: Letting the Best of Cuba slip through your fingers
Hit: 5 Stars
It seems there is a great surge of interest in Cuba these days among so-called elightened North Americans, but the wary observer of history knows there is inevitably a price to be paid and that price will be paid by Cubans. Ry Cooder did well to find these incredible artists in the nick of time before they die. This was the music of my mother's era in Havana and it continually brings inconsolable tears to have this past paraded before our eyes. This music, honed out of the daily struggles of poor Cubans living during alternating fascist (30's) & all too brief psuedo-democratic glitches (the 40's & 50's), reminds that the human spirit can survive anything, including 40 years of Communism. Cubans have a sense of humor and a 'joie d'vie' that transcends the imposition of any and all political systems. They are supreme survivors. Remember that, America! Ry Cooder did well to find these phenomenal human beings and artists. However,one is troubled by the spectre of slick American capitalism at its worst, Ry not-so-subtley bleeding the buck while at the same time posing as the facilitator...a cultural cancer we Americans since the days of George Washington's brother (read your Cuban history!) refuse to learn to extract from our genes. Three Cheers for the Buena Vista Social Club and a Bronx cheer for Hawaiian guitar slide effects in that pristine setting. That stuff just ain't Cubano,Ry. You should have exercised better taste. BVSC-5 stars; Cooder as archeologist-4 stars; Coooder as musician- 2 stars.Free Music Review: The Holy Grail of Cuban Son
Hit: 5 Stars
Imagine that a tropical island lies less than 100 miles from the coast of Florida. Imagine that on this island live the Spanish equivalents of Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and Chuck Berry. Imagine that 40 years ago this island nation was taken over by a militant dictator and that these musicians were not heard outside of their island for decades.
You don't have to imagine since it all happened.
Besides being a great guitarist, Ry Cooder is perhaps as valuable to the world as an arranger, producer and discoverer of fertile musical ground. Invited on a trip (through Mexico) to Havana, he was amazed to discover that many of the legendary performers of the old Buena Vista Social Club were still alive and performing vibrant music. With the weight of Mr. Cooder these Cuban All-Stars gathered for an historic six day recording session. The velvety-voiced Ibrahim Ferrer is joined by 70-ish "Fiancee of Feeling" Omara Portuondo and fiery Compay Segundo. The group is anchored by bass virtuoso Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez. The sound is built around the expert piano work of Ruben Gonzalez, blending his classical training with the seductive rhythms of Havana.
Many of these brilliant musicians have passed since this 1997 recording, but as a result most were able to tour the world, bringing their musical diplomacy to Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam, Spain, France, Reykjavik...
We are indebted to these musicians, and to Ry Cooder for finding these lost treasures.
Free Music Review: A magical gathering
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an album of great delicacy and power, recorded with a reverence for the music and the musicians, in which every musician's humor and grace is allowed to shine through. For those who claim there are better records of son music out there--maybe. But how many have done as much for this kind of music? None. Especially magical is the fact that this group could easily never have happened were it not for a few people with the dedication to see that it did. The story behind this album is as inspiring as the music. These tracks have a little something for everyone: melancholy, laughter, power and grandeur. Shame on those reviewers slamming Ry Cooder, as if he were just another "musical imperialist," a slick showbiz creep exploiting these musicians, as if he weren't one of the most tasteful and versatile players in the world today. Let's make one thing perfectly clear: it took many wonderful people to make this record, but without Ry Cooder, it would never have had this kind of success. And shame on the goofus who breaks down the profit distribution for the record--as if he knows!(sad little person). If you see the inspiring film made about this group, you'll see the look on their faces as they play Carnegie Hall--80 year old men whose dreams are coming true! Not to mention most of these musicians are now touring elsewhere and enjoying music careers for the first time in 30 years. They haven't gone back to poverty and obscurity--and they are more than happy to hear Cooder's slide guitar!Free Music Review: I Heard Chan Chan and Now I can't Go to Work (Hong Kong)
Hit: 5 Stars
I purchased, Ruben Gonzales last week, and by chance heard the Buena Vista Social Club CD last night at my neighbor's house. This morning I was standing outside the music store, waiting for it to open, so that I buy it -sorry Amazon, I needed this fix immediately. When I heard Chan Chan, I felt a tingling sensation inside. I was gripped by emotions that toggled between sadness, romance and the warmth of contentment. The rest of the CD is also excellent. I woke up friends in the middle of the night back in San Francisco to tell them of this great find, only to learn that there was a movie that never made it here to Hong Kong, and that they were all great fans and, much to my envy, attending a concert in November. Some two hundred CDs in my collection will be neglected for a long while, and frankly I am looking forward to it. At this time I don't know if I can go to work tomorrow. I just want to open my windows and let the un-air-conditioned are in, unplug the phone, open a bottle of pinot noir around noon, and put my CD player on eternal repeat until worried friends and co-workers send the police to my house. The last piece of music that moved me like this was Beethoven's piano sonata pathetique which I heard when I was 13. Some twenty years later, I am reminded how a great piece of art is moving no matter how much one has seen, heard, or felt before. Everything else on this board, except the Beethoven piece, deserves a one star deduction.Free Music Review: Poetry and a Rare Gift: A Look into the Cuban Soul
Hit: 5 Stars
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.