Buena Vista Social Club

Vocals, guitar, bass, percussion, trumpet, piano • Active 1996-2015 • Cuban music: Son Cubano, bolero, guajira, danzón

Fast Facts

Musical group of iconic Cuban musicians, some pulled out of retirement, brought together to record an album in 1996
The Buena Vista Social Club was a revival of pre-revolutionary sound.
Original Buena Vista Social Club included Joaquim Cooder (percussion and drums), Alberto ‘Virgilio’ Valdéz (maracas and backing vocals), Compay Segundo (vocals and guitar; deceased), Omara Portuondo (vocals), Eliades Ochoa (guitar and vocals), Manuel ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal (trumpet), Orlando ‘Cachaíto’ López (bass; deceased), Manuel ‘Puntillita’ Licea (vocals; deceased), Rubén González (piano; deceased), Juan de Marcos González (bandleader, backing vocals), Ibrahim Ferrer (vocals; deceased), and Ry Cooder (guitars)
Album project was initiated by American guitarist Ry Cooder, executive Nick Gold, and bandleader Juan de Marcos González
Ensemble was named after the Buena Vista Social Club of the 1940s, a sociedad de negros (Black club), when clubs were racially segregated
Album was initially supposed to be a group of Malian artists recording an Afro-Cuban album. Passports didn’t come through so musicians were unable to travel; Ry Cooder decided to shift the focus to Buena Vista Social Club
Album was recorded in just six days and became an instant hit, becoming the highest selling Cuban album ever; a world tour followed its release
Film director Wim Wenders directed a documentary about how the group came together at his friend Ry Cooder’s urging