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, some 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 player Barbarito Torres and trombonist and conductor Jesús "Aguaje" Ramos currently tour worldwide, 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.

The original Buenavista Social Club

The Buenavista Social Club was a members-only club originally located in Buenavista (literally ''good view''), a quarter in the current neighbourhood of Playa (before 1976 part of Marianao), one of the 15 municipalities in Cuba's capital, Havana. The original club was founded in 1932 in a small wooden venue at ''calle Consulado y pasaje "A"'' (currently ''calle 29, n. 6007''). In 1939, due to lack of space the club relocated to number 4610 on Avenue 31, between ''calles'' 46 and 48, in Almendares, Marianao. This location is recalled by Juan Cruz, former director of the Marianao Social Club and master of ceremonies at the Salón Rosado de la Tropical (other nightclubs in Havana).Godfried, Eugène
"Dialogue with Juan Cruz. Past President of ''Mariano Social Club'' - la Havana"
AfroCubaWeb.com. Retrieved 12 April 2007 �
AfroCubaweb
Intute at The University of Manchester. Retrieved 18 March 2010. As seen in the ''Buena Vista Social Club'' documentary, when musicians Ry Cooder, Compay Segundo and a film crew attempted to identify the location of the club in the 1990s, local people could not agree on where it had stood."Interview with Ry Cooder in Los Angeles, by Betty Arcos, host, "The Global Village" Pacifica Radio 27 June 2000"
''Buena Vista Social Club'' site. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Retrieved 18 March 2015.

At the time, clubs in Cuba were segregated; there were ''sociedades de blancos'' (white societies), ''sociedades de negros'' (black societies), etc. The Buenavista Social Club operated as a black society, which was rooted in a cabildo. Cabildos were fraternities organized during the 19th century by African slaves. The existence of many other black societies such as Marianao Social Club, Unión Fraternal, Club Atenas (whose members included doctors and engineers), and Buenavista Social Club, exemplified the remnants of institutionalized racial discrimination against Afro-Cubans.Godfried, Eugène
"The African Cuban Diaspora's Cultural Shelters and their Sudden Disappearance in 1959"AfroCubaWeb
Retrieved 18 March 2007. These societies operated as recreational centers where workers went to drink, play games, dance and listen to music. In the words of Ry Cooder,

As a music venue, the Buenavista Social Club experienced the peak of Havana's nightclub life, when '' charangas'' and '' conjuntos'' played several sets every night, going from club to club over the course of a week. Often, bands would dedicate songs to the clubs where they played. In the case of the Buenavista Social Club, an eponymous danzón was composed by Israel López "Cachao" in 1938, and performed with Arcaño y sus Maravillas. In addition, Arsenio Rodríguez dedicated "Buenavista en guaguancó" to the same place. Together with Orquesta Melodías del 40, the Maravillas and Arsenio's conjunto were known as ''Los Tres Grandes'' (The Big Three), drawing the largest audiences wherever they played. These vibrant times in Havana were described by pianist Rubén González, who played in Arsenio's conjunto, as "an era of real musical life in Cuba, when there was very little money to earn, but everyone played because they really wanted to".''Buena Vista Social Club''. Musicians Biographies
Rubén González. Nonesuch Records website. Retrieved 18 March 2007.

After the Revolution

Shortly after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, newly elected Cuban President Manuel Urrutia Lleó, a devout Christian, began a program of closing gambling outlets, nightclubs, and other establishments associated with Havana's hedonistic lifestyle. This had an immediate impact on the livelihoods of local entertainers. As the Cuban government rapidly shifted towards the left in an effort to build a "classless and colourblind society", it struggled to define policy toward forms of cultural expression in the black community; expressions which had implicitly emphasized cultural differences. Consequently, the cultural and social centers were abolished, including the Afro-Cuban mutual aid ''Sociedades de Color'' in 1962, to make way for racially integrated societies. Private festivities were limited to weekend parties and organizers' funds were confiscated. The measures meant the closure of the Buena Vista Social Club. Although the Cuban government continued to support traditional music after the revolution, certain favor was given to the politically charged nueva trova, and poetic singer-songwriters such as Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés. The emergence of pop music and salsa, a style derived from Cuban music but developed in the United States, meant that son music became even less common.

Cuban music experienced quite a radical change in the 1960s, as National Geographic notes:

Cuban dance music also witnessed dramatic change beginning in the late 1960s, as groups explored the fusion of Cuban son with American rock, jazz and funk styles. Groups such as Los Van Van and Irakere established modern forms of Cuban music, paving the way for new rhythms and dances to emerge as well as fresh concepts in instrumentation. ... Cuba's dance music had already inspired a change from the older son-style dances, as younger Cubans broke free of step-oriented dances...

The occurrence of these closures and the change in traditions is the simplest explanation of why many musicians were out of work, and why their style of music had declined before the Buena Vista Social Club made it popular again.

Album

In 1996, American guitarist Ry Cooder had been invited to Havana by British world music producer Nick Gold of World Circuit Records to record a session in which African musicians from Mali were to collaborate with Cuban musicians. On Cooder's arrival (via Mexico to avoid the ongoing U.S. trade and travel embargo against Cuba),"Hurricane Cooder hits Cuba"
''The Daily Telegraph'' (June 1997). Retrieved 20 March 2007. it transpired that the musicians from Mali had not received their visas and were unable to travel to Havana. Cooder and Gold changed their plans and decided to record an album of Cuban son music with local musicians.

Already on board the African collaboration project were Cuban musicians including bassist Orlando "Cachaíto" López, guitarist Eliades Ochoa and musical director Juan de Marcos González, who had himself been organizing a similar project for the Afro-Cuban All Stars. A search for additional musicians led the team to singer Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, pianist Rubén González and octogenarian singer Compay Segundo, who all agreed to record for the project.

Within three days of the project's birth, Cooder, Gold and de Marcos had organized a large group of performers and arranged for recording sessions to commence at Havana's EGREM Studios, formerly owned by RCA records, where the equipment and atmosphere had remained unchanged since the 1950s. Communication between the Spanish and English speakers at the studio was conducted via an interpreter, although Cooder reflected that "musicians understand each other through means other than speaking".

The album was recorded in just six days and contained fourteen tracks; opening with "Chan Chan" written by Compay Segundo, a four chord son that was to become what Cooder described as "the Buena Vista's calling card";"Life began at ninety"
Guardian Unlimited (17 July 2003). Retrieved 18 March 2007. and ending with a rendition of "La Bayamesa", a romantic criolla composed by Sindo Garay (not to be confused with the Cuban national anthem of the same name). The sessions also produced material for the subsequent release, '' Introducing...Rubén González'', which showcased the work of the Cuban pianist.

One of the songs that featured on the album was "Buena Vista Social Club", a danzón written by Orestes López, the father of bass player "Cachaíto". The song spotlighted the piano work of Rubén González and it was recorded after Cooder heard González improvising around the tune's musical theme before a day's recording session. After playing the piece, González explained to Cooder the history of the social club and that the song was the club's "mascot tune". When searching for a name for the overall project, manager Nick Gold chose the song's title. According to Cooder,

Upon release on 17 September 1997, the CD became a huge "word of mouth hit", far beyond that of most world music releases.Rolling Stone 500. #260: ''Buena Vista Social Club''
Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 18 March 2007. It sold more than one million copies and won a Grammy award in 1998. In 2003 it was listed by the New York-based ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as #260 in The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Musicians

A total of twenty musicians contributed to the recording including Ry Cooder's son Joachim Cooder, who at the time was a 19-year-old scholar of Latin percussion and provided drums for the band. Ry Cooder himself played slide guitar on several songs and helped produce and mix the album, afterwards describing the sessions as "the greatest musical experience of my life". Ry Cooder had been a successful American guitarist since the 1960s, recording with Captain Beefheart and the Rolling Stones. Known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music led him to record music from diverse genres including Tex-Mex, Hawaiian and Tuvan throat singing. He was later prosecuted and fined $25,000 by U.S. authorities for his work on the ''Buena Vista Social Club'', having broken the Trading with the Enemy Act, a clause that forms part of the ongoing United States embargo.

Many of the Cuban musicians who featured on the album were at their musical prime in the 1940s and 1950s. After the success of the 1997 record they became known in Cuba as "''Los Superabuelos''" (the Super-Grandfathers). Juan de Marcos González, a Cuban folk revivalist who was younger than the bulk of performers introduced Cooder to veteran singer Ibrahim Ferrer. Ferrer (1927–2005) had been lead vocalist for bandleader Pacho Alonso, and also sang for Beny Moré, Cuba's most prominent performer in the 1940s, before his soft singing style fell out of fashion.Buena Vista Social Club: Musicians biographies.
''Buena Vista Social Club'' site. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Retrieved 18 March 2007. Having found the semi-retired seventy-year-old Ferrer taking his daily stroll on the streets of Havana and shining shoes for extra money, González signed him up for the project. Cooder later described the discovery as something that happens "perhaps once in your life", and Ferrer as "the Cuban Nat King Cole".Thigpen, David E
"Forget Me Not"
''Time magazine'' (1 August 1999). Retrieved 18 March 2007. Ferrer became a prominent member of the group, and the success of the record was attributed in part to the popularity of his vocal performances. The singer went on to record a number of successful solo albums and performed with contemporary acts such as the Gorillaz before his death in 2005 at the age of 78.

Virtuoso pianist Rubén González (1919–2003) also had further success releasing two solo albums after working on the initial project. González was a pianist for bandleader Arsenio Rodríguez in the 1940s, and is attributed with helping establish Cuban piano styles that were to dominate Latin music for the remainder of the century. Despite suffering from arthritis and not even owning a piano at the time of recording with Cooder, (due to an infestation of termites whilst living in South America) the American guitarist described him as "the greatest piano soloist I have ever heard". After the success of the 1997 record, González recorded and toured with bassist Orlando "Cachaíto" López, who was the only musician to play on all of the songs on the ''Buena Vista Social Club'' album. "Cachaito" (1933–2009) was the son of multi-instrumentalist Orestes López and the nephew of fellow bassist Israel "Cachao" López, the brothers often attributed with inventing the mambo. Named after his prestigious uncle, "Cachaito" (little Cachao) was a leading Descarga musician in the 1950s and 1960s, a musical form that takes its influence from modern jazz, and he became the ever-present bassist at Buena Vista Social Club performances and recordings.

One of the first to come on board the project was Compay Segundo (born Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz) (1907–2003), who at 89 years old was the oldest of the performers. During a discussion about politics, the veteran Segundo said: "Politics? This new guy idel Castrois good. The 1930s were rough. That's when we had the really bad times." Segundo was an accomplished guitarist and tres player who started his career playing with established bands of the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1940s, he gained fame as one half of the Los Compadres duo, and then formed Los Muchachos, a band that he led until his death in 2003. For the ''Buena Vista Social Club'' recording and performances, Segundo played a unique seven-stringed instrument, a hybrid between a guitar and a tres, which he devised himself and called an '' armónico''. He also sang, mostly doing background vocals, in a number of songs in his baritone voice, including the self-penned opening track, Chan Chan, with Eliades Ochoa as the leading voice. Cowboy hat wearing Eliades Ochoa (b. 1946), who had collaborated previously with Segundo and was a well established traditional Cuban folk performer, played guitar and sang for the group. Omara Portuondo (b. 1930), a bolero singer and the only female in the collective, sang "''Veinte Años''" on the record and duets with Segundo and Ibrahim Ferrer during live performances.

Other performers included singer Pío Leyva (1917–2006) who had been working with Segundo since the early 1950s, and fellow and singer Manuel "Puntillita" Licea (1927–2000), who had performed with Celia Cruz and Benny Moré. Additional improvised percussion was provided by Amadito Valdés and Carlos González. The youngest established member of the group was Barbarito Torres, (b. 1956) a virtuoso player of the ''laúd'', a Cuban offshoot of the lute. Trumpet was provided by Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal