- Title: UNITED KINGDOM/CUBA: BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB TOUR HITS LONDON'S HYDE PARK
- Date: 28th July 2000
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) IBRAHIM SAYING THE "SON" (CUBAN FOLKSONG) MEANS EVERYTHING TO HIM "The Cuban 'son' is the most sublime for the soul. The 'son' is everything. It's soul, heart, life, love, everything."
- Embargoed: 12th August 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM AND FILE LOCATIONS IN HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA1PYA2CO5BDZ3LYBBFBNKVAXXB
- Story Text: It all began with an album recording in Havana by American guitarist Ry Cooder and a team of veteran Cuban musicians. Then came a documentary by German filmmaker Wim Wenders which became one of the biggest earning non-fiction films ever made. Now the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon has become a globe-trotting roadshow with stage performances worldwide. During their latest tour, they stopped off in London's Hyde Park for a Latino concert. Reuters caught up with two of the band's most well-known faces.
Four years ago, none of the musicians that form The Buena Vista Social Club could have imagined that they would become world famous.
Singer Ibrahim Ferrer was working as a shoe shiner on the streets of Havana.
His friend Ruben Gonzalez was collecting his £25 a month in state pension and Omara Portuondo, although famous in Cuba, was not known internationally.
Now, thanks to the American guitarist Ry Cooder, who "discovered" them in 1996, they are travelling the world - playing top venues.
Every show is a sell-out and with an average age of 65 they know how to pull a crowd. London's Hyde Park was bursting with excited fans and the band themselves love playing in London.
"I'm so happy to be here in London one more time and this time with The Buena Vista Social Club with Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben Gonzalez. Really I am very happy and I hope to be so many times (in London)", says Omara Portuondo.
Omara's fondest memory of her collaboration with The Buena Vista Social Club was the moment it all began.
"The nicest moment for me was when they called me to record some songs. I then went to the studio where I met the other musicians, my friends. It was like a reunion, a party, that was the nicest moment about The Buena Vista Social Club,"
he says.
Omara is well known in her own right in Cuba where they call her "la novia del filin", but her recognition internationally only came with The Buena Vista Social Club.
Her love for Cuban music began early on.
"I was a little girl then like everyone else. At home, my father used to sing us songs and my parents, they were the ones who taught me how to sing...Maria Teresa Vera was the first woman "trovadora" (troubadour) who took Cuban music outside the country."
Omara is the only woman in the otherwise all-male band, a special position she rather enjoys. "I feel like a queen. So many men and only one woman. We've known each other for a long time and I'm more a friend to them than a work colleague. I have a very special position within the group, they respect me and they love me a lot so I am very happy about that."
The face most people associate with The Buena Vista Social Club is that of Ibrahim Ferrer. Growing up on his own after the death of his mother, Ibrahim sang in the streets as a boy and earned a living as a shoe shiner. He received recognition late in life and says he was literally plucked off the streets to participate in The Buena Vista Social Club.
"I sang a song that I knew - 'Candelas'. Ry Cooder was watching me and that's how it started, I sang other songs, we started recording them ..."
Ibrahim loves Cuban music, especially the "son", the Cuban folksong.
"The Cuban 'son' is the most sublime for the soul. The 'son' is everything. It's soul, heart, life, love, everything."
The Buena Vista Social Club are going back to Cuba for a short break and then it's off again for another tour that takes them to Japan.
So how do they cope with all the traveling and their enormous success - do they have a secret? "Me? No. I'm a natural person. That's my only philosophy. I say what I can so that you understand me.
"I don't need any philosophy." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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