Buena Vista Social Club

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.

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.

i am a music slut. anytime, anyplace, anygenre. my ears are always open for business. i can't help myself. i am what i am. this disc is a tremendously exciting blast of cuban sounds. it really got me off. very vibrant and full of life. if you are a slut for sound, like me, then i say have a go with this album. it doesn't disappoint.

I have had this album a number of years, and my enthusiasm is not quite as great as many of the viewers here, because although it is generally pleasant listening, I don't think there are really any outstanding tracks or personal favorites on here.

I should add that I speak Spanish fairly well and therefore understand the lyrics, and am generally an enthusiast of Hispanic culture and music. The story of this worthy project and how this was recorded are interesting and I suspect some reviewers are moved more by sentiment than just on the merits of the music, some of which seems very middle-of-the-road to me, albeit pleasant enough for casual listening.

Ry Cooder did a good thing reassembling these wonderfully talented and forgotten stars of another period. Great album, wish it was a double, triple, a collection. I would buy it. Can't replace these icons of another era and their sound will be gone with them.