Buena Vista Social Club - Tabarka Jazz Festival

Recorded in Tunisia at the Tabarka International Jazz Festival in the summer of 2004. The lead singer and guitarist is Eliades Ochos for Buena Vista Social Club.

The Buena Vista Social Club was a members club in Havana, Cuba that held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s. In the 1990s, nearly 50 years after the club was closed, it inspired a recording made by Cuban musician Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder with traditional Cuban musicians, some of whom were veterans who had performed at the club during the height of its popularity.

The recording, named Buena Vista Social Club after the Havana institution, became an international success, and the ensemble was encouraged to perform with a full line-up in Amsterdam in 1998. German director Wim Wenders captured the performance on film, followed by a second concert in Carnegie Hall, New York City for a documentary that included interviews with the musicians conducted in Havana. Wenders's film, also called Buena Vista Social Club, was released to critical acclaim, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary feature and winning numerous accolades including Best Documentary at the European Film Awards.

The success of both the album and film sparked a revival of international interest in traditional Cuban music and Latin American music in general. Some of the Cuban performers later released well-received solo albums and recorded collaborations with international stars from different musical genres.

The "Buena Vista Social Club" name became an umbrella term to describe these performances and releases, and has been likened to a brand label that encapsulates Cuba's "musical golden age" between the 1930s and 1950s.

The new success was fleeting for the most recognizable artists in the ensemble: Compay Segundo, Rubén González, and Ibrahim Ferrer, who died at the ages of ninety-five, eighty-four, and seventy-eight respectively; Segundo and González in 2003, then Ferrer in 2005.

video: Stephen Smith
http://www.mycompass.ca

• Category

  Music

[Ian Stalker]

Fascinating blend of Cuba and Tunisia. Loved it!

[Bill King]

nice Stephen

[ilikejohncalvin]

bongo/conguero phenomonal!

[Habeeb S]

Fantasically recorded and I love the music. Extremely well done and so clear, not only the sound but the video. Great work!

[sterlingstreamliner]

Beautiful music. Terrific video.  Love to see / listen to more.

[kitty66ish]

This video makes me want to be there. I'm feelin' the beat in the heat!

[ilonaktravels]

Love this song! Who would have thought the BVSC performed in Tunisia.