Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club 180g 2LP

2021 Stereophile Magazine Record to Die For!

The original Buena Vista Social Club album became a surprise international best seller and the most successful album in the history of Cuban music. It was recorded for World Circuit Records by Ry Cooder over seven days in Havana in 1996, bringing together many of the great names of the golden age of Cuban music in the 1950s, several of whom were coaxed out of retirement for the sessions.

In the years that followed the original release, Buena Vista veterans toured the world and were the subject of a celebrated feature film directed by Wim Wenders. Further acclaimed recordings followed including solo releases by the singers Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo, virtuoso pianist Rubén González and bassist Cachaíto López. A celebratory live album recorded at New York's Carnegie Hall was also released. Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, a core band featuring several of the original musicians, continues to sell out shows worldwide and will embark on a farewell "Adios" tour in 2015.

If you get one album of Cuban music, this should be the one.

BVSC's escapist appeal pushed this Grammy winner back into my heavy rotation stack. If layered percussion's snap doesn't make you move, check your pulse.