"Social Club Buenavista" (also known as "Buena Vista Social Club") is a

danzón Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba.Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Written in time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring se ...

composed by Cuban bassist Israel López "

Cachao Israel López Valdés (September 14, 1918 – March 22, 2008), better known as Cachao ( ), was a Cuban double bassist and composer. Cachao is widely known as the co-creator of the mambo and a master of the descarga (improvised jam sessions). T ...

". It is one of his many compositions dedicated to a Cuban venue where he frequently played as part of the charanga

Arcaño y sus Maravillas Arcaño y sus Maravillas was a Cuban charanga founded in 1937 by flautist Antonio Arcaño. Until its dissolution in 1958, it was one of the most popular and prolific danzón orchestras in Cuba, particularly due to the development of the danzón-m ...

. It has become a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

of the genre, being regularly performed by artists such as

Frank Emilio Flynn Francisco Emilio Flynn Rodríguez (April 13, 1921 – August 23, 2001), better known as Frank Emilio Flynn, was a renowned Cuban pianist. Despite being blind, he was a skilled and versatile pianist who mastered many forms of Cuban music, from danz ...

and Rubén González throughout the 20th century. Although composed during the 1940s, it was first recorded in 1958 by Cachao himself, along with several former members of las Maravillas, for the album ''El Gran Cachao'', released by Kubaney.

Origin and composition

Between 1938 and 1948, Cachao and his brother

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness and ...

(nicknamed "Macho") were the songwriting and arranging core of Las Maravillas de Arcaño, later known as Arcaño y sus Maravillas, one of Cuba's most popular charangas, directed by flautist

Antonio Arcaño Antonio Arcaño Betancourt (Atarés, Havana 29 December 1911 – 1994) was a Cuban flautist, bandleader and founder of Arcaño y sus Maravillas, one of Cuba's most successful charangas. He retired from playing in 1945, but continued as director o ...

. Every night, las Maravillas would play in a different venue, including casinos, hotels, youth associations, blacks associations, etc.Entrevista con Israel López "Cachao"
2003. In Spanish. Their long sets required them to have a vast repertoire, so Cachao and Orestes would compose new danzones regularly, totalling thousands over the years. Many of these were dedicated to the venues they performed in, such as "Club Social de

Marianao Marianao is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs (''municipio ' (, ) and ' () are country subdivisions in Italy and several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. They are often translated as "municipality". In the English languag ...

", "Redención Sport Club" (in Pogolotti, Havana), "Avance Juvenil" (in

Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila City () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 497.000, in a municipality of 756,373. Geography Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway ...

), "Centro San Agustín" (in

Alquízar Alquízar () is a town and municipality in the Artemisa Province of Cuba. History The settlement was first mentioned in 1616, as a coffee plantation owned by ''Don Sancho de Alquízar'', who gives the name of the community. In 1826, a garrison ...

), and "Social Club Buenavista". The latter was an association of

Afro-Cubans Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural ele ...

in the Buenavista neighbourhood of Havana, founded in 1932. The song was copyrighted in the United States on 23 March 1964, shortly after Cachao arrived in the country from Madrid, where he had originally gone into exile.

World Circuit recordings

In March 1996, a recording session took place in Havana featuring musicians from the so-called "Golden Age of Cuban music" (1940s and 1950s), organized by the record label World Circuit. During the sessions, guitarist and producer

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

asked Rubén González to play his favorite tunes on piano. Of all the tunes, Ry selected "Social Club Buenavista" as his favorite and used its title as the name for the album and the ensemble itself: Buenavista Social Club."Interview with Ry Cooder" in Los Angeles, by Betty Arcos, host, “The Global Village”, Pacifica Radio, 27 June 2000
''Buena Vista Social Club'' site. PBS.org. Retrieved 24 September 2018. The bassist in the group was

Orlando "Cachaíto" López Candelario Orlando López Vergara (February 2, 1933 – February 9, 2009), better known as Cachaíto, was a Cuban bassist and composer, who gained international fame after his involvement in the Buena Vista Social Club recordings. He was nick ...

, Cachao's nephew. In the album's liner notes, however, the composition is misattributed to Cachao's brother and Cachaíto's father,

Orestes López Orestes López Valdés (August 28, 1908 – January 26, 1991), nicknamed Macho, was a Cuban multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. As a double bassist he was a founding member of the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra, and later a member of th ...

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

El Gran Cachao
Discogs.com. Cuban songs Danzón Compositions by Cachao

Origin and composition

World Circuit recordings

See also

References

External links