The best ... Lords of Cuban music, which delight.

Terrific video! ==> http://www.pbs.org/buenavista/

a wonderful favorite-

what a great set

 kaybee wrote:   

With all due respect: blaming the existence of the brutal tyranny in Havana on the embargo is a bit difficult to fathom. It is unlikely that Fidel had any intention of establishing democratic institutions. He was a communist after all and was pushing the "dictatorship of the proletariat" nonsense through his propaganda engines. His ideological mentors and sponsors weren't that fond of democratic institutions either.

You do have an interesting point about censorship and 5th columnists. We in the US had very little suppression of the press during the cold war, allowing Soviet propaganda foster internal anti-American self loathing, which had become very fashionable in some circles. Oddly, the Soviets were so effective at this effort that it has become truly self sustaining. Now, I am not recommending that we tear up the first amendment. That way leads towards tyranny which would give the victory to the discredited Soviets even as their ideology is sitting on the dung-heap of history. It is unfortunate, however, that we are not more demanding of logical tests for the kind of political drivel that comes out of these circles.

 BTW, a 20th century political joke I heard the other day:

Q: What is the difference between Communists and Fascists?

A: The Communists have better PR.

Ibrahim Ferrer, R.I.P.

 jpfueler wrote: 
You mean escapees like Luis Posedes and Hernando Bosch?  Terrorists who blew up a Cuban airliner, killing many of the passengers, including many non-Cubans as well as Cubans?

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/10/06-2

http://www.counterpunch.org/pertierra04112006.html

No Cuba is not a "glorious paradise" nor is any country that has been embargoed by and attacked by open and covert operations for 30 years.  In fact, no country at war can be a democracy because if they didn't have censorship, the 5th column within would destroy it.  Check your history of the Allies during WWII.  You'll find they had censorship and curtailment of civil liberties.

Also Guantanamo Bay is own by the US not Cuba, even though it is on Cuban land.  Are not Americans jailed and tortured there without a trial?

I won't say any more except that anyone looking at this topic objectively from both sides will agree that Cuba has been far more sinned against than sinning.  Lift the embargo and have diplomacy with Cuba and you'll have your democracy.

My son recently sent this CD to me for my birthday, saying that he had this great CD that he had been listening to.  I really like it and it is nice to see that there is hope for the next generation.

Perfect Sunday monring wakeup...ahhhhhh

kaybee wrote:

Go talk to the escapees in Fl for info on the fine gov't that is Castro's Cuba.
The Artists you so love are quick to disappear if they do something the gov't doesn't like.

I am always amazed by folks who think Cuba is some glorious paradise for it's residents. So Castro (and now Raul) "spends" a bit on "Artists". perhaps allowing someone freedoms you obviously take for granted would be a better thing. Maybe things there would be nicer if one could say things like your Anti-Gov't statement without fear of jail  or firing squad. I mean, why should the displaced Cubans in FL be mad?...Castro only killed their relatives, stole their property, and other niggling trifles.

 shutter wrote:
I doubt very much that Castro tried to eliminate these musicians.  Cuban music and the arts receive a lot of support from their government.  Quite probably more than American musicians receive from their government.  I get really pissed off when Americans cut down Cuba, especially after all the terrorism geared towards Cuba from the Miami anti-Castro Cubans who are backed by American government money.

Listening to "Radio Havana" on shortwave last night, they announced the original female vocalist of the group, Omara Portuondo, has a new solo effort being released shortly.

You really need to see the documentary of the same name to really appreciate how cool this album and Cooder's involvement is.  These guys are really something of a Cuban treasure that Castro's Communist and Marxist treachery managed to nearly eliminate.

they were already famous.
the only thing ry cooder/wim wenders did for them was show them to the world (the english speaking world) in a very special way

Wasn't it Ry Cooder who "discovered" them, not that they needed discovering.

The cure for dengue fever! Gracias! Viva Cuba!

qosforever wrote:

There are several scenes in the movie that indicate those gentlemen had been pretty famous when they were young too. While visiting the Empire State Building, one man said he'd been there many years before, when he was touring with a band. Playing in NYC has always been a big deal, so he was probably fairly famous way back when too.

No matter. It's great to see their music and culture embraced so warmly (again).

c.

DoctorHooey wrote:

Amen to that!

This album, but this song in particular really makes me homesick for when I was about 10 years old.

My family lived in Deep South Texas and sometime on weekends would gather up the kids and aunts and uncles and drive across the river to Matamoros, Mexico.

We'd all have dinner at Al Pastor (open pit grilling of goats) and then roll over to The Drive In; a night club frequented by locals and gringos alike.

They had a full brass, Frank Sinatra style band and all the drunks would get up and dance to music just like this.

Those were the days and now it's all gone in a blur of over development and drug wars.

This album is a really, really good take on some of the fine Spanish music that's out there.

For those discussing it, please don't paint all Americans, or any culture with the same wide brush, just as you don't appreciate it when folks do it to you. Some of us are curious, seek knowledge and have a grasp of basic geography. :)

You truly were lucky in that you got to see the masterful pianist Ruben Gonzalez. Wow, I mean wow, what an amazing player he was. To all of that group who have passed on since, R.I.P.

Was lucky enough to see these guys in concert here in Houston about 7 years ago I believe, with Ibrahim Ferrer. Outstanding show and an overall phenomenal experience.

all time fav...
i have this record on lp: 10
on cd: 9

meloman wrote:

That's correct.

Some years ago, maybe five, I travelled to Albuq.,NM.
On my flight between Dallas and Albuq. I had my seat beside a teacher(!), who asked me, whether Hitler's Nazi-party still collects many votes in elections in Germany.
A TEACHER!

I could convince him of the fact, that war is over, Hitler dead, Germany democratic (Thanks to the USA btw!) and we even have warm water and electricity.

Some days later I read the 'USA Today' during my breakfast and noticed, that international news are located nearly at the end of the newspaper, nearly behind the sports...

This IS some sort of ignorance.

Yeah!!!!
A caballo vamos pa'l monte...A caballo vamos pa'l monte!!! =D Buena Vista Social Club ruuuuuuleeees =D

viva de cuba~!

viva de cuba~!

viva de cuba~!

It's curious how this legendary very old men get famous, when they were 80 years old.