The Buena Vista Social Club
Monday, 31 December 2018 - 04:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Caribbean / Karibik General
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club in Lorient/France © XIIIfromTOKYO/cc-by-sa-3.0
🔊 Listen to this Post
Buena Vista Social Club is an ensemble of
Cuban musicians established in 1996 to revive the music of
pre-revolutionary Cuba . 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 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 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.
Jesús 'Aguaje' Ramos and his trombone at the White House in 2015 © Executive Office of the President of the United States - Chuck Kennedy
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 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, as part of a 13-member band called
Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club .
Read more on
Wikipedia Buena Vista Social Club (
Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State -
Weather report by weather.com -
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine - Coronavirus Resource Center -
Global Passport Power Rank -
Democracy Index -
GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank -
Global Competitiveness Report -
Corruption Perceptions Index -
Press Freedom Index -
World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index -
UN Human Development Index -
Global Peace Index -
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index ). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at
comment@wingsch.net . Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.
VIDEO
Recommended posts:
[caption id="attachment_165278" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Park Avenue © Hennem08/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel in Manhattan in New York City. The hotel has been housed in two historic landmark buildings in New York. The first, bearing the same name, was built in two stages, as the Waldorf Hotel and the Astor Hotel, which accounts for its dual name. That original site was situated on Astor family properties along Fifth Avenue, opened in 1893, and designed by Henry J....
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_151095" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Vignaccia76/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls form "an unforgettable skyline". Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examp...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_161090" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Gabridelca[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Bonifacio is a commune at the southern tip of the island of Corsica, in the Corse-du-Sud department of France. Its inhabitants are called Bonifaciens, feminine Bonifaciennes. The commune in this case is identical to the canton and is the largest commune of Corsica.
The town is served by Figari Airport (car or taxi required), and ferry service to Sardinia is available multiple times daily.
Bonifacio is located direc...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_193021" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Seen from St. Philip Street © Infrogmation of New Orleans/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The French Market (French: Marché français) is a market and series of commercial buildings spanning six blocks in the French Quarter of New Orleans in Louisiana. Founded as a Native American trading post predating European colonization, the market is the oldest of its kind in the United States. It began where Café du Monde currently stands and has been rebuilt and r...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_233214" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Palácio dos Condes de Avillez © F nando/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Portalegre is a municipality in Portugal. The population as of 2011 was 22,368, in an area of 447.14 square kilometres (172.64 sq mi). The municipality is located by the Serra de São Mamede in the Portalegre District. Its name comes from the Latin Portus Alacer (meaning "cheerful port"). The municipal holiday is 23 May. According to the 2001 census the city of Portalegre had 15,768 in...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_235194" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Mitte27/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Kherson is a port city in Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major shipbuilding industry and is a regional economic centre. It had a population of 280.000 in 2022. At the beginning of 2023, the remaining population was estimated at around 40,000 people.
From March to November 2022, the city was occupi...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_233737" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Clock tower © TudorTulok/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timbered granary, and the 15th-century St Nicolas Church, along with 17th- and 18th-century listed buildings. As well as being home to Newbury Racecourse, it is the he...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_200713" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Julian Herzog/cc-by-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Gamla stan (The Old Town), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna (The Town between the Bridges), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla stan includes the surrounding islets Riddarholmen, Helgeandsholmen, and Strömsborg. The town dates back to the 13th century, and consists of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets,...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_203688" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Kwang Fook Kong Temple © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Labuan, officially the Federal Territory of Labuan, is a federal territory of Malaysia. It is made up of the eponymous Labuan Island and six smaller islands, and is located off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1...
[ read more ]
[caption id="attachment_152284" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Newport Sailing 2009 © chensiyuan/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County. It is located 23 miles (37 km) south of Providence, and 61 miles (98 km) south of Boston. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and a major United St...
[ read more ]
