BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
On this week's Turn it up Tuesdays, I want to share with you the group, the Buena Vista Social Club. This band has been around since the 1940s; so an oldie but a goodie.
The Buena Vista Social Club began in the 1940s. It was a members-only club located in Marianao neighborhood in Cuba's capital Havana. Buena Vista means "good-view" in Spanish. The Artists included 13 talented members: Ibrahim Ferrer, Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, Ruben Gonzalez, Pio Leyva, Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo, Barbarito Torres, Amadito Valdes and Joachim Cooder.
Even though this legendary group has been around since the 1940s, I only recently learned about them from reading E L James, Fifty Shades of Gray books; Fifty Shades Darker to be exact. Pretty crazy, I know!
Coming from a Hispanic background, I was captured by the sounds of these great musicians/singers. What an amazing group! It brings a smile to my face and takes to me a timeless place.
Fifty years after the close of the club, it inspired a recording made by Cuban musician Juan de Marcos Gonzales and American guitarist Ry Cooder. Some of the original veterans, who performed at the club were part of the recording, called the Buena Vista Social Club.
A documentary about the Buena Vista Social Club (Wim Wenders film) was shown in 1998. It received an academy award nomination for best documentary feature and won numerous accolades including best documentary at the European Film Awards. You can view the movie trailer
To date, the 13 member band called Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club currently tours worldwide with several surviving members of the Buena Vista Social Club, such as trumpeter Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, lau'd player Barbarito Torres and trombonist and conductor Jesus "Aguarje" Ramos. There will be a farewell tour for 2014-15.
You can read Billboard Biz's article regarding the group here
If you haven't heard of the Buena Vista Social Club and have been living under a rock like me, get ready to be entertained by this SUPER talented group. Here are some of my favorite songs:
AfroCubism - Al vaiven de mi caretta
Enjoy!
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