Remember the smash hit ‘Buena Vista Social Club’? It wasn’t supposed to be like that…
It became the most successful world-music album in history, but “Buena Vista Social Club” happened by accident.
The original idea for the record, as conceived by Nick Gold of the British label World Circuit, was to bring a group of prominent African musicians to Cuba for an intercontinental jam session. But when visa delays thwarted the Africans’ travel plans, Mr. Gold and his producer, Ry Cooder, improvised by inviting some Havana old-timers into a studio there and voilà. The resulting “Buena Vista” album, recorded in 1996 and released a year later — a slow, romantic stroll through the sounds of prerevolutionary Cuba — sold eight million copies, won a Grammy and spawned more than a dozen solo albums.
Yet Mr. Gold never forgot about the African-Cuban idea (nor did the Africans, who were more than a little envious of what they had missed out on). And now, after 14 years, the deaths of several “Buena Vista” members and changes in the music industry that have made blockbuster success for any album — let alone highbrow world-music projects — extremely difficult, Mr. Gold has finally made the record that “Buena Vista” might have been: “AfroCubism” (World Circuit/Nonesuch), which will be released on Tuesday.
[…]
From left, Eliades Ochoa, Kasse Mady Diabaté and Bassekou Kouyate in an AfroCubism concert. Christina Jaspars
UPDATE Nov. 4, 2010:
We hear from our readers:
1 tacuba14 Wed, Nov 3, 2010 6:52:40pm
No, I do not remember, no clue.
My friend, you are in for a treat. Here’s your first clue: Buena Vista Social Club
And another: Link. (Embedding disabled.)
And here is another: