Buena Vista Social Club star dies

2003-07-15 08:46

Los Angeles - Many Cubans had forgotten Compay Segundo, who died on Monday, until a US record producer arrived in Havana in 1996 and launched Segundo and his fellow musicians onto the world stage with the release of the Buena Vista Social Club.

The film and its accompanying album revived the enchanting music of a group of elderly Cuban musicians - including Segundo who died at home in Havana on Monday aged 95 - for millions of new fans around the world.

American music producer, Ry Cooder, travelled to the Caribbean island in 1996 with a dream in mind, he had a desire to reunite a group of Cuban and Mali musicians in a unique recording session.

However, the Africans never arrived in Cuba because they failed to get travel visas and the project could easily have stalled.

But Cooder, who loved the Cuban melodies he had discovered in the 1970s, decided to pursue his project, and began recording at the Buena Vista Social Club, a once exclusive resort located in the hills to the east of Havana.

It was there he discovered some old and forgotten practitioners of Cuba's musical heritage, many of them aged 80 and above.

The resulting recording, which took place over six days under Cooder's watchful eye, went on sale in 1997 to great critical and public acclaim.

The album went on to sell more than a million copies worldwide as well as winning a Grammy award.

The album revived the careers of several other musicians and performers in addition to Segundo's including Ibrahim Ferrer, Omora Portuondo, the only woman in the group, Ruben Gonzalez, Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez and Barbarito Torres.

Among the many admirers of the revived songs was German film-maker Wim Wenders, who had worked with Cooder on previous projects.

Armed with a digital camera, Wenders shot footage of the musicians over three weeks during 1998 following them around Havana, on location in the ageing Egrem studio - where the album was recorded - and on a tour to Amsterdam and New York's Carnegie Hall.

The resulting Buena Vista Social Club documentary, about the Cuban musicians, was nominated for an Oscar in 2000, and became the 10th most watched documentary in history.

- AFX