In 1996, record producers Nick Gold, Ry Cooder and band leader Juan de Marcos brought together a group of seasoned but mostly forgotten musicians, some as old as 90, to record an album of old music for a new audience. It was an album of old songs as they were played in the 1940s and ‘50s for working-class black Cubans at a members-only Havana dance hall, called the Buena Vista Social Club.
The unexpected result was a cultural phenomenon.
According to the album’s website, “upon the release of the Buena Vista Social Club™ album in 1997, few outside the specialist world music audience initially took much notice of the record’s elegantly sculpted tunes and warm, acoustic rhythms. Then something extraordinary occurred. The album was spectacularly reviewed by a few discerning critics, but although their words of praise did Buena Vista’s cause no harm, they cannot explain what subsequently happened…Buena Vista’s sales figures kept steadily rising week by week, building almost entirely by word-of-mouth until it achieved critical mass: all who heard the record not only fell in love with Buena Vista’s irresistible magic, but were then inspired to play or recommend the album to everyone they knew. It was one of those rare records that transcended the vagaries of fad and fashion to sound timeless but utterly fresh. Once you heard it, you had to have a heart of stone not to be swept away by the music’s romantic impulses and uninhibited exuberance.”
It won a Grammy, has sold more than 8 million albums worldwide, and was the subject of an Oscar-nominated 1999 documentary. Now the album has also inspired a new Broadway musical, which tells the imagined origin story of the musicians behind the music and their personal struggles before their fame later in life.
Music (and a story) that will Move you
Step into the heart of Cuba, beyond the glitz of the Tropicana, to a place where blazing trumpets and sizzling guitars set the dance floor on fire. Here, the real sound of Havana is born – and one woman discovers the music that will change her life forever.
Inspired by true events, five-time Tony Award®-winning musical Buena Vista Social Club™ brings the Grammy Award®-winning album to thrilling life – and tells the story of the legends who lived it. A world-class band joins a sensational cast of musicians, actors and dancers from across the globe for an authentic and joyful experience unlike any you’ve seen or heard before. Witness the tale that continues to captivate Broadway - one of big dreams, second chances and the unbreakable bonds of making music together.
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