1997
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club is an ensemble of Cuban musicians established in 1996. The project was organized by
World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist
Ry Cooder and directed by
Juan de Marcos González. They named the group after the homonymous
members' club in the
Buenavista quarter of
Havana, a popular music venue in the 1940s. To showcase the popular styles of the time, such as
son,
bolero and
danzón, they recruited a dozen veteran musicians, many of whom had been retired for many years.
The group's
eponymous album was recorded in March 1996 and released in September 1997, quickly becoming an international success, which prompted the ensemble to perform with a full line-up in
Amsterdam and
New York in 1998. German director
Wim Wenders captured the performance on film for a
documentary—also called
Buena Vista Social Club—that included interviews with the musicians conducted in Havana. Wenders' film was released in June 1999 to critical acclaim, receiving an
Academy Award nomination for
Best Documentary feature and winning numerous accolades including Best Documentary at the
European Film Awards. This was followed up by a second documentary
Buena Vista Social Club: Adios in 2017.
The success of both the album and film sparked a revival of interest in traditional Cuban music and
Latin American music in general. Some of the Cuban performers later released well-received solo albums and recorded collaborations with stars from different musical genres. The "Buena Vista Social Club" name became an umbrella term to describe these performances and releases, and has been likened to a brand label that encapsulates Cuba's "musical golden age" between the 1930s and 1950s. The new success was fleeting for the most recognizable artists in the ensemble:
Compay Segundo,
Rubén González, and
Ibrahim Ferrer, who died at the ages of ninety-five, eighty-four, and seventy-eight respectively; Compay Segundo and González in 2003, then Ferrer in 2005.
Several surviving members of the Buena Vista Social Club, such as tresero
Eliades Ochoa, veteran singer
Omara Portuondo, trumpeter
Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal,
laúd player
Barbarito Torres and trombonist and conductor
Jesús "Aguaje" Ramos currently tour worldwide, to popular acclaim, with new members such as singer Carlos Calunga and pianist Rolando Luna,
[1] as part of a 13-member band called
Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club.
[2]