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intereact!Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrar, Ruben Gonzalez, Compay Segundo, Omara Portuondo
Retail Price (not our price): $18.98
Release Date: 1997-09-16
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...
| Disc 1 |
Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
1) Amazon.com essential recording
Ry Cooder's name has helped bring attention to this session, but it's the veteran Cuban son musicians who make this album really special. Reminiscent of Ellington in its scope and sense of hushed romanticism, Buena Vista Social Club is that rare meld of quietude and intensity; while the players sound laid-back, they're putting forth very alive music, a reminder that aging doesn't mean taking to bed. Barbarito Torres's laoud solo on "El Cuarto de Tula" is both more blinding and more tasteful than any guitar showcase on any recent rock album; a quote from "Stormy Weather" and some very distinct parallels to Hawaiian styles remind us of why it's called "world music." --Rickey Wright
Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
1) Love it! Love it! [Rating: 5 out of 5]
For lovers of Latin or Cuban music, this is a must have! You will not be disappointed.2) the best CD gift anyone got for me [Rating: 5 out of 5]
originally I would not have picked this up for myself, but a friend gave it to me, and this was in the beginning before they were well known. now I am giving it myself to others who somehow never learned about it. it is tremendous music and the DVD is totally worth watching, Ry Cooder did a terrific service to humanity. like his Timbucktu (sp?) album of afropop.3) One of the best music from Cuba [Rating: 5 out of 5]
If you haven't listened to Buena Social Club, you have to. Classic songs, ranging from traditional slow Salsa to old Cuban songs played by magnificent musicians. The documental is good too, but you don't need to watch it if you close your eyes and listed to the CD.4) guajiro y carretero [Rating: 4 out of 5]
The best thing about Buena Vista Social Club and its musicians is that they are representative. A large, active Cuban musical tradition, of which BVSC is one example, thrives in the hotels and halls of Havana, Camaguey, Santiago de Cuba, and the like.What has happened here is a marketing coup that ought to be celebrated rather than derided, for it has brought the richness of Cuban son to our ears. If it had not come in the picturesque and personality-rich form of Ibrahim, Compay, and their pals, it would have happened via some other coterie of sonistas who looked and sounded much like them. They are everywhere.Meanwhile, let us love the ones we're with.An understated elegance drives this music forward. By other standards, it may appear underproduced or even quaint. On its own terms, it is neither. It would be a mistake for the listener to give into the temptation to smile condescendingly and define the music in terms of what is *is* not or *has* not.Rather, one must walk the humid streets of Havana with these musicians and revel in what it *is*, what it *has*.For example, a practiced irony of lyric. a perfectly matched instrumental and vocal relationship where no subset of either dominates the others; and the redolence of some very good cigar smoke.Then there is the magical capacity for viewing a 70-year-old musician as a man at the height of his powers rather than a has-been who just won't stop flogging the horse. Herein lies much of the music's charm.There are less edifying sights available these days than lithe Cuban men and women of nursing home age nosing about in unhurried and musical enjoyment to the admiration of their compatriots and, now, of us.5) I don't understand Spanish [Rating: 5 out of 5]
A while back I saw a preview of the making of the Buena Vista Social Club and at the time, it seemed like an interesting independent film topic. Not long after that I was in a bootleg CD store in Macedonia and I saw a copy of this album (CD) and was instantly intrigued; something about the cover struck me, so I bought it. What a pleasant surprise, and although I don't understand Spanish, I did feel the rich sense of emotion seeping through the sounds of this work. Vibrant; yet aged, this album reaches something deep that cannot be adequately explained. Buena Vista Social Club is a real treat.NOTE: I'm usually not one to buy bootleg copies of anything, it's a personal form of silent protest and my way of supporting the artist; consequently, I scrapped the bootleg version and bought the real thing.