Buena Vista Social Club

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Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club at the ZMF 2015 in Freiburg

Buena Vista Social Club (Cuban: [ bwˌenaβistasosjalklub ], US-American: [ ˌbwɛnəvɪstəsəʊʃl̩klʌb ]) is the brand become title of a music album, 1996 by US guitarist Ry Cooder , a project with by Juan de Marcos González put together old masters of Cuban music the 1940s and 1950s. With over eight million sales, it is the most successful album in the world music genre . After the great international success of the CD, which was considerably reinforced by the documentary film of the same name by Wim Wenders , which was released in 1999, the World Circuit label released a series of sound carriers based on the original album using the name that had become known, on which a growing circle of Cuban musicians was involved, some of which still appear today (as of 2014) under the continuation of the name Buena Vista Social Club in different line-ups on international tours. The name comes from an instrumental piece on the first album, which was dedicated to an Afro-Cuban cultural association that was important in the decades before the Cuban Revolution of 1959 , the so-called "Club Social" of the Buena Vista district of the capital Havana . In 2017 the documentary Buena Vista Social Club: Adios was released.

Music project by Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos González

Ry Cooder traveled to Cuba in 1996 because of a project with African musicians that didn't materialize . There were already recordings with Juan de Marcos González and the Afro-Cuban All Stars for their record label, Nick Golds World Circuit. González, who until then had played the traditional son as Tresero and director of Sierra Maestra , was the first to realize a project that revived the orchestral son of the 1950s. Cooder took over the All Stars and was recommended by González (in addition to the string instrument players, Eliades Ochoa and Barbarito Torres, more typical of his projects ) representative singers of this style; in fact, they represent part of the soloists involved in the All Stars. Both A Toda Cuba Le Gusta of the Afro-Cuban All Stars and Buena Vista Social Club were to be nominated in 1997 for a Grammy in the Tropical Latin Performance category. The end of the production time was used for Rubén González 's first solo album Introducing Rubén González , so that all three CDs could appear at the same time.

The title track of the CD Buena Vista Social Club , a composition by Orestes López suggested to the producers by his son Orlando "Cachaito" López , who was the only musician involved in all recordings , is a danzón that ends in a mambo and a longer piano solo by Contains Rubén González. It is the signature tune of the Afro-Cuban cultural association of the same name, the Club Social de Buena Vista, a district of Havana in today's Municipio Playa , which was very popular in the 1940s and 1950s and in which some of the musicians had already performed.

The Buena Vista Social Club project turned out to be extremely successful. In the western world in particular, significantly more copies of the CD were sold than expected. Therefore, plans for follow-up projects arose.

Awards for the CD Buena Vista Social Club

Participating musicians

The most important soloists of the music project, also featured in the film, were

  1. Ibrahim Ferrer (1927-2005), singer
  2. Compay Segundo (1907-2003), singer and guitarist
  3. Omara Portuondo (* 1930), singer
  4. Rubén González (1919–2003), pianist
  5. Eliades Ochoa (* 1946), singer and guitarist
  6. Ry Cooder (born 1947), guitarist

The following Cuban musicians also introduce themselves in more detail in the film: Orlando “Cachaíto” López , bass; Amadito Valdés , drums; Manuel “Guajiro” Mirabal , trumpet; Barbarito Torres , lute.

Documentary by Wim Wenders

The idea for the film developed from the original success of the CD: In 1998, after he had won the most important music award Grammy with the album Buena Vista Social Club , Ry Cooder traveled again to Cuba. He planned to record a solo album with the singer Ibrahim Ferrer . Cooder brought along a long-time friend, the German film director Wim Wenders , and his film crew. This is how the extremely successful documentary came about during the recordings for the album and at some concerts afterwards.

Discography & follow-up projects

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1997 Buena Vista Social Club DE1
Triple gold
× 3
Triple gold

(151 weeks)DE 		AT37
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum

(10 weeks)AT 		CH7th
Triple platinum
× 3
Triple platinum

(106 weeks)CH 		UK44 (40 weeks)
UK 		US80
platinum
platinum

(19 weeks)US
First published: June 16, 1997
2008 At Carnegie Hall DE49 (3 weeks)
DE 		AT49 (5 weeks)
AT 		CH37 (3 weeks)
CH 		UK55 (1 week)
UK 		-
First published: October 10, 2008
2015 Lost & Found DE95 (1 week)
DE 		- CH48 (6 weeks)
CH 		UK86 (1 week)
UK 		-
First published: March 20, 2015

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
2008 Chan Chan
At Carnegie Hall 		- - CH68 (1 week)
CH 		- -
First published: October 2008

The CD and the film of the same name made the musicians known to a worldwide audience. They continued their artistic work and performed a large number of international concerts. Several of them released solo albums. In the Buena Vista Social Club series, World Circuit released the following albums (based on the three original CDs):

  • Buena Vista Social Club presents Ibrahim Ferrer (CH:platinumplatinum; US:goldgold)
  • Buena Vista Social Club presents Omara Portuondo (AT:goldgold)
  • Rubén González: Chanchullo
  • Orlando "Cachaíto" López: Cachaíto
  • Ibrahim Ferrer: Buenos Hermanos
  • Omara Portuondo: Flor de Amor
  • Buena Vista Social Club presents Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal
  • Angá Díaz : Echu Mingua
  • Ibrahim Ferrer: Mi Sueño
  • Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall (concert recording)
  • Buena Vista Social Club: Lost and Found (previously unreleased tracks from the original studio recordings)
  • Rhythms Del Mundo - Cuba (DE:platinumplatinum)

Video albums

  • Buena Vista Social Club (UK:Triple platinum× 3Triple platinum )

Even after the death of three of the five Cuban soloists involved in the original project, the Buena Vista Social Club brand was continued. Some of the remaining and new Cuban musicians appear regularly at concerts that are still well attended. In November 2013, the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club , led by Jesús Ramos, announced that it would break up after an international farewell tour planned for the period from summer 2014 to autumn 2015. In September 2012, the production of the first CD in a decade was announced. The stars Omara Portuondo and Eliades Ochoa should also be involved in the recordings.

The success of the Buena Vista Social Club resulted in numerous imitations, some of which also used the (unprotected) district name “Buena Vista” for their projects (“The Bar at Buena Vista”, “Pasión de Buena Vista”, “Live from Buena Vista”) " Etc.). Outside of Cuba, the term “Buena Vista” is much better known than the term “ Son ”, thanks to the impact achieved through film and CDs , which actually describes the traditional Cuban music style mainly used within the Buena Vista Social Club project .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ben Sisario: Dreaming of Second Bolt of Lightning. In: New York Times, October 29, 2009, accessed April 25, 2014
  2. ↑ Tim Walker: The Big Question: How did the Buena Vista Social Club become such a global phenomenon? In: The Independent of February 12, 2009, accessed April 25, 2014
  3. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  4. ↑ Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club on a farewell tour, ( Memento from April 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) in: Insight Worldmusic Magazine from November 6, 2013, accessed on April 25, 2014
  5. ↑ Buena Vista Social Club vuelve a grabar un disco y sale de gira por Europa , in: ABC of September 21, 2012 (Spanish)

Web links