Sometime I like to mix it up at dufusdownbeat. This past weekend I was kicking back listening to some Cuban music. It’s great stuff. Makes you want to jump up and cha-cha-cha.
There’s an interesting history to Cuban music. It’s been repressed, controlled and banned. But in the end it’s become known the world over. The latest resurgence was thanks to Ry Cooder, an American slide guitarist, who in the mid 90s travelled to Cuba and recorded the album Buena Vista Social Club with some renowned traditional Cuban musicians.
Named after a members-only musical club of the 40s, the recording session featured such institutions as Compay Segundo, Ruben Gonzalez and Ibrahim Ferrer who made such an impact they went on to successful yet brief solo careers. They died at the ages of ninety-five. eighty-four and seventy-eight respectively, all prior to 2005.
Shortly after the Cuban revolution of 1959, the government began closing down gambling halls, nightclubs and other similar establishments. Cultural and social centers such as the Buena Vista social club were abolished. These measures put many Cuban musicians out of work.
Fast-forward to 1996 and Ry Cooder’s efforts to produce and record these artists. His efforts succeeded in making an international success of the BVSC which in turn generated a revival in traditional Cuban music.
Here’s a 1999 performance of Chan Chan from a concert in Amsterdam. The venue formed a partial basis, along with a subsequent Carnegie Hall recital, of a documentary film shot by director Wilm Wenders and a subsequent live CD.
