Buena Vista Social Club: The Revolution Is Eternal

I watched the Wim Wenders' 1999 movie Buena Vista Social Club last night & found it really inspiring. It has a sort of ambient style but like Cuban music, its own snaking hypnotic pace as you are introduced to the band members, their various life stories, their culture & history. It portrays the music as an outgrowth of their personalities. This culminates in their phenomenal 1998 gig at Carnegie Hall New York. Until watching this movie I had no idea how much Buena Vista Social Club had contributed to the popularisation of Cuban, Latin American, Bossa and World music generally, or indeed how influential Ry Cooder was in reuniting the band members. I had a bit of a mental blind spot over Ry Cooder since my mate handed me a copy of his 1978 album Jazz, which I admit I didn't really appreciate at the time (it was the 1980's). Strangely though, those songs (In A Mist; Shine; Nobody, etc) have kept playing on in my head all those years, so they must have some power. Anyway, heres the blurb:

The Buena Vista Social Club was a members club in Havana, Cuba, that closed in the 1940s, as well as a 1990's band, an album, a film and an unofficial brand name representing the musical spirit of the original Havana club. The original Buena Vista Social Club held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s. In the 1990s, nearly 50 years after the club was closed, it inspired a recording made by Cuban musician Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder with traditional Cuban musicians, some of whom were veterans who had performed at the club during the height of its popularity.

The recording, named Buena Vista Social Club after the Havana institution, became an international success, and the ensemble was encouraged to perform with a full line-up in Amsterdam in April 1998 (two nights). German director Wim Wenders captured the performance on film and the one that followed on the 1st of July 1998 in Carnegie Hall, New York City for a documentary also called Buena Vista Social Club that included interviews with the musicians conducted in Havana. Wenders' film was released on 4 June 1999 to critical acclaim, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary feature and winning numerous accolades including Best Documentary at the European Film Awards. The success of both the album and film sparked a revival of international interest in traditional Cuban music and Latin American music in general.

North Utsire

George Galway

Skip to 11:46 on this 2nd clip

Not flautist James Galway, not firebrand politician George Galloway. George Galway is well used to being described as the “younger brother to flautist James” but I wanted to give him a shout out as a musician in his own right. He taught me clarinet, and some sax as a peripatetic music teacher for several years, and acted as a mentor and friend in those growing up years. My first “gig” was with George in his band, from playing jazz in smoky night clubs, to Sunday concerts in pristine florally arranged and straightened churches. I have never met a more unassuming and good humoured musician; one who does it for the music, not the limelight.

I was in a lesson with George at the old South Manchester High School, getting drilled to death on clarinet arpeggios, when a slightly older sax player, also a student of George, and fellow band member happened to be walking by and dropped in. After the preliminaries, the young saxophonist gets talking about drugs and music:

Sax Player: George, I heard they were all at it; John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz. What do you think of cannabis?

George: Can- of- what?

Sax Player: Cannabis!

George: Sorry, Can- of- what?

Sax Player: They used to take it for time dilation, to feel the beat and fit in more notes to a riff… do you think it works?

George: Can- of- what?

Sax Player: (looking unnerved)

George: Can- of- what?

Funny, funny talented guy.

George's Facebook photo, where he claims to have been born in 1905!

That would have made him in his late 80's as my clarinet teacher. 

Update: Very sad to hear of the passing of George on 4th October 2020, at his true age of 79, after a long illness. There are some lovely comments testifying to his mischievous sense of humour and great kindness on the Jazz Northwest and also on Funeral Notices, which I recommend. I'll light a candle for you George, and play a rusty Danny Boy on my low whistle. Although I'm sure you'd find fault with it technically, it will lack nothing in sentiment.

By North Utsire

Bossa Nova Classics

Track Listing:

01 Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto- So Danco Samba 00:00
02 Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Aguas De Marco 03:38
03 Astrud Gilberto - The Girl From Ipanema 07:13
04 Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - One note Samba / Spanish Flea 13:49
05 Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - O Grande Amor 15:35
06 Gal Costa & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Chega De Saudade 21:02
07 Joao Gilberto - Wave 24:51
08 Astrud Gilberto - Berimbau 29:28
09 Stan Getz , ACJ & Joao Gilberto Para Machuchar Meu Coracao 31:53
10 Astrud Gilberto - All That Left Is To Say Goodbye 36:58
11 Antonio Carlos Jobim - Desafinado 40:10
12 Joao Gilberto - Corcovado 45:01
13 Bebel Gilberto - Bim Bom 49:34
14 Astrud Gilberto - How Insensitive 52:18
15 Antonio Carlos Jobim - Amor In Paz 55:07
16 Sergio mendes & Brasil '66 - Agua De Beber 58:41
17 Astrud Gilberto - Tristeza 1:01:10

By South Utsire

Paco de Lucia

Until asked to perform and interpret Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in 1991, de Lucía was not proficient at reading musical notation. Biographer Pohren, however, at the time of writing his biography in 1992, said that he was still not proficient and had found a bizarre way of learning the piece, locking himself away. I guess when you feel rhythm so sublimely in every fibre of your being, reading music must seem an unnecessarily laborious step.

by South Utsire