Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Brighton Dome, Brighton, April 17 (From The Argus)

Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Brighton Dome, Brighton, April 17

9:52am Wednesday 20th April 2011 in Music Reviews By John Keenan

Some of the many surreal sights on the streets of Havana are the remade and remodelled Cadillacs and Pontiacs cruising the backstreets.

As a tribute to Cuban ingenuity, the clapped-out vehicles shouldn’t work but somehow they do.

The same goes for the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, the travelling showcase of Afro-Cuban music. The latest incarnation shimmied onto the Brighton Dome stage to a rapturous welcome.

It was clear from the outset that both the audience and band had come to party.

No sooner had bandleader and trombonist Jesus “Aguae” Ramos kicked off proceedings than the crowd were out of their seats, dancing.

The average age of this band must be well on the octogenarian side of the scale but they stirred up a tempo to challenge the most agile R&B superstar.

Rolando Luna on piano was especially incandescent, infusing the son and bolero rhythms with a modern jazz sensibility.

But the night belonged to Omara Portuondo. The 80-year-old diva shamelessly milked the adulation of the packed house and proved that just because you qualify for a free bus pass doesn’t mean you can’t dance like a child.

Her voice was in superb shape, ranging from sultry growl to impassioned pleas. The sound was superlative with every instrument picked out perfectly.

A stripped-down version of the 1940s Farrés classic Quizas, Quizas, Quizas (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps), was followed by crowd-pleasers Chan Chan and Silencio before the up-tempo finale Candela.

Portuondo was last to go off stage, still singing and reluctant to leave the limelight. It seems Cuban talent is built to last.