Buena Vista Social Club

Yesterday evening, after my first day of work, Hammy and I watched the Buena Vista Social Club documentary. The DVD has been in my possession for more than a year now, but we never got around to seeing it. I'm glad we didn't before now. When you've just been to a place, it's always fun to see footage of it. So, in a sense, we're trying to prolong our holiday, I guess. I'm sure everyone knows about Buena Vista. It tells the story of how Ry Cooder and his son Joachim united some of the most famous son artists of Cuba to record known classics in the genre. The name stems from a members club in Habana where the featured artists had performed during the 1940s. The film dates from 1997, and the funny thing is that Habana has hardly changed in ten years time. There is a bit more light, more people and slightly more variety in cars.

The latest incarnation of BVSC is coming to Belgium next month. They will be performing at the Audi Jazz Festival on the 1st (Bruges) and the 6th (Brussels) of November. Other notable names are Cinematic Orchestra (October 9, Brussels), Maceo Parker (October 21, Antwerp), Jef Neve Trio (October 14, Bxl), Philip Catherine (October 31, Bxl), Ron Carter (November 6, Antwerp), and others.

Staying a bit on the Cuba trip, we'll be renting Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights tonight. This movie will undoubtably be complete and utter crap ... but the action takes place in Habana, which is good enough for me.