188: Buena Vista Social Club, by Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club (Cuba)
Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
14 tracks, 60 minutes
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If there is ever a case for naming a single legendary album of the world music era, surely Buena Vista Social Club must be it, or at least high in the running. Years ago, when Songlines magazine printed a world music chart based purely on record sales, this album was in the top ten every single month. That's impressive enough as it is before you take into account that this was more than 10 years after the record was first released, such was its awesome and enduring popularity.

So what is it? Quite a simple premise, actually: get a whole roomful of Cuba's greatest musicians and singers from yesteryear (many of whom had fallen into obscurity or given up music entirely) and get them to record one more album. Add some star-power in the form of American roots revivalist Ry Cooder that's, apparently, a recipe for success. As much as it is impossible to overstate Buena Vista Social Club's success, it's also hard to argue that it's not entirely deserved. A lot of the world's hugest (and especially the most unexpected) successes are somewhat dubious musically – and quite naturally, having to appeal, as they do, to the lowest common denominator across many different cultures internationally. This album defies that, and gloriously.

The music here is in the style of 1950s son (which would come to be known as salsa after its move to the US), but also including old-style boleros, trovas and cha-cha-chás. Perhaps reflecting the musicians' long and varied careers, there's also a lot of jazz influence in the sound, especially from Reubén González' piano. Every one of the songs on Buena Vista Social Club have become standard repertoire in Cuban music, and even in Spanish-language music around the world regardless of style. This can even be to a somewhat harmful degree: I've never been, but apparently it's quite impossible to traverse the streets of Havana without hearing enough versions of 'Chan Chan' as to never want to hear it again.

Buena Vista Social Club did amazing things for Cuban music on the international scene. As well as making huge – and very, very rich – stars of its musicians such as Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Reubén González, Omara Portuondo, Orlando 'Cachaíto' Lopez and Eliades Ochoa, it gave the world a real taste for Cuban music in both this old style and the new, which it continues to feel today. And with an album as perfect as this, that's not really too much of a surprise.