The best musicians Cuba has to offer are coming to Rotterdam this year:
Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club. In 1997, their titleless album (produced by Ry Cooder) captured the hearts of music lovers across the globe. That album of music performed by elderly Cuban musicians sold almost nine million copies. The Netherlands was crazy about the warm sounds of this aged group as well: the album stayed in the charts for no fewer than 241 weeks. Only one of the male singers on that album is still alive today,
Eliades Ochoa (67). You can see him in Rotterdam, along with singer
Omara Portuondo who was the only woman in the illustrious group back in 1997. Portuondo, who is now in her eighties, has had a fabulous career and is still recording albums, as she did with pianist Chucho Valdés in 2011. This ‘Adios Tour’ is, as the name unfortunately says, the farewell tour of Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club.
