Buena Vista Social Club

Here is a CD that is like so many records in the late sixties, when you could play the entire album and enjoy every song. There is soul, there is passion, there is virtuosity, this has it all. Ry Cooder did us a great service in putting this together and adding his own guitar touches. Get this CD and enjoy the warmth and humanity of these amazing cuban musicians.

This album is exceptional! I've listened to it many times and it just gets better and better. I cannot recommend this one enough! If you like Cuban music in the least bit, you've found a true gem, and even if you don't I guarantee you'll like it. It's one of the few cd's that works for anytime: parties, relaxing, car, anything. Your only regret will be that, if you are like me and are confined to english, you'll want to sing along! Look up the words to some of the slower ballads, they are lovely.

Even better than this cd is the DVD which is absolutely fascinating- it gives such insight and nostalgia into the old days in Havana.

This reunion of sept-, oct- and nonagenarian traditionalist Cuban musicians occurred at the urging of veteran musician Ry Cooder, but Cooder was only the instrument of a greater good.

Intense but relaxed, sensuous and yet energetic, this is one of the finest CDs I have heard in years, showcasing amazing talents largely unknown in the United States and forgotten in Cuba. The Buena Vista Social Club is an aural garden of the senses not to be missed.

What an eye opener to the rest of the world. What a beautiful
and pulsating blend of music.

It was the music of the Buena Vista Social Club, brought to the U.S.A. by Ry Cooder, that brought the sound of cha cha, bolero and son to the foreground. These songs are, first and foremost, some of the most authentically beautiful, sensual musical forms in the existence of Cuban music. I remember watching the artists, featured in the soundtrack, on the big screen. All I could keep thinking was, "How could these artists be 'forgotten'? Their music is so amazing!" Artists like Omara Portunda (the beautiful, sensuous lone female vocalist featured with Ibrahim Ferrer on "20 Años," a haunting bolero) and Ibrahim Ferrer, well into their seventies, eighties, and, even nineties, still singing and playing their instruments with wild abandon! What an inspiration.

I guarantee that this album has something for everyone. We have the popular "Chan Chan," a slower tune, played with guitar and percussion, "El Cuarto de Tula" (a wild number, great for salsa dancing to!) and many other cuts. This is a true example of the triumph of the human spirit, how nobody can overcome it, and how it transcends ages and cultures.