Buena Vista Social Club unearth material for new album

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/04/buena-vista-social-club-unearth-material-for-new-album

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Their wistful melodies and swinging sounds of Havana have soundtracked middle-class barbecues and dinner parties for more than a decade.

Now, almost 18 years after Buena Vista Social Club’s album became an unexpected global phenomenon, a new record is set for release featuring previously unheard music by the eclectic Cuban musicians. Titled Lost and Found, it will include tracks originally recorded for the collective’s 1997 album, Buena Vista Social Club.

The original album, recorded in just six days in Havana’s crumbling Egrem studio, was led by Cuban musician Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder. It also featured virtuoso displays from local musicians, many of whom had performed at the original Havana club in the 1950s. It became a sensation in the late 90s, mainly on the back of word of mouth – selling more than 8m copies worldwide, it is the ­biggest-selling world music album – and triggered a global revival in Cuban music.

It also spawned a documentary by Wim Wenders featuring interviews with band members, which won an Oscar in 2000. In 2003, the album was ranked 260 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

As well as music from the original sessions, Lost and Found will feature live and studio tracks recorded by the original musicians Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Cachaíto López, Guajiro Mirabal, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, and Compay Segundo.

World Circuit’s Nick Gold, who was key in orchestrating the original 1996 recordings in Havana, said: “Over the years we were often asked what unreleased material was left in the vaults. We knew of some gems, favourites among the musicians, but we were always too busy working on the next project to go back and see what else we had. When we eventually found the time, we were astonished at how much wonderful music there was.”

Lost and Found will be released on 24 March through World Circuit Records and Nonesuch. Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, featuring several of the group’s original members, will tour Australia, Europe and South America from March.

Speaking last year, Orchoa, 68, who was a guitarist and vocalist on the original album and will take part in the tour, said: “Buena Vista Social Club arrived at just the moment it needed to arrive. It is indebted both to the history of the Cuban people and Cuban music, as well as to the original founders of the project, who also have their own musical histories … To be involved – to be able to make music for a living and take Cuban music all over the world – fills me with great pride and happiness.”