Buena Vista Social Club, The Dome, Brighton, Fri, Apr 25
12:21pm Saturday 19th April 2008
They are the giants of a golden age of music as well as being great showmen and hugely loveable characters," says promoter David Flower about the reason for Buena Vista's enduring popularity.
Since forming in 1996, they have won hearts with their Oscar-nominated documentary, sold more than a million copies of their Grammy award-winning album and continue to perform sell-out concerts all over the world.
So it is understandable, perhaps, that David rejects recent claims from music critics that the band has lost its sparkle since the passing of leading lights Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo and Ruben Gonzalez.
"They were exceptional characters,"
he acknowledges. "It's impossible to replace them.
"But many members of our current 13-piece band have played with them and are continuing to bring their spirit to Buena Vista. We still have many original members, like Cachaito Lopez, Guajiro Mirabal, Jesus Rabos and Manuel Galban, who are just phenomenal."
Dubbed the "heartbeat of the Buena Vista Social Club", virtuoso bass player Orlando Cachaito' Lopez is the only musician who has played on every track on every album in the World Circuit Buena Vista Social Club series.
"Lopez is from a huge bass-playing dynasty," says David. "His uncle Cachao, who was also a bass player, invented the mambo and greatly influenced Lopez's style. That's why he's called Cachaito', meaning little Cachao'. There's no tune Lopez can't play.
He's 75 and he's like a living museum of Cuban music.
"Barbarito Torres is another giant - he's considered Cuba's best laud player. And Guajiro Mirabel's distinctive fiery trumpet sound has earned him the nickname The Trumpet of Cuba'."
If the newer members of the band can't quite emulate their legendary predecessors, they do, according to David, make their own individual contributions to Buena Vista's current sound.
"Manuel Hilario, our guitarist, is the last living member of Los Zafiros, Cuba's famous American 1960s-style band, and he brings his unmistakeable doo-wop style to the mix,"
says David.
"And our two young vocalists bring a breath of fresh air. Idania Valdes is our youngest member, aged just 22, and she's a fantastic dancer with an energetic stage presence that gets audiences moving.
"Carlos Calunga, 36, our other vocalist, came to prominence on Mirabal's solo album, the Latin Grammy-nominated Buena Vista Social Club Presents Manuel Guajiro Mirabal, in 2004. He comes from the contemporary Cuban tradition of timba, similar to hip-hop, which is hot in Cuba at the moment."
Buena Vista's standard classics such as Dos Gardenias and Candela sit alongside new interpretations of 1950s Cuban son in their latest show.
Laud virtuoso Barbarito Torres uses the raucous El Cuarto De Tula to showcase some spectacular solos with the Cuban lute-like instrument tucked behind his back.
The band also delivers a lively instrumental version of one of their best loved songs, Quizas, Quizas, Quizas.
"Originally it was sung as a duet between Ibrahim and Omara Portunondo, who's known as the Diva of Cuba for her phenomenal voice and stage presence," says David. "But as she's now left, the band wanted to do a version that complemented their current line up."
The result is a funky guitar-led version with only the choruses sung.
Buena Vista's party-style live performances are famed for defying the years of many of the band members, so it is no wonder their audiences are of all ages.
David says: "Like all Cuban styles, Buena Vista's music is to be danced to, so it is full of life, not a museum piece that marks a bygone era."
- Starts 8pm, SOLD OUT.
For returns, call 01273 709709.