Buena Vista Social Club

iTunes Review

Ry Cooder traveled deep into Cuba's musical heart, gathering the island's best musicians to record this breakthrough album. Many of these legends hadn't performed together in years, but there's an ease that pervades the album, of people with nothing to prove, entering into rhythm itself and letting it spread across a courtyard. Whether it's the upbeat danceable sons of "Chan Chan" and "De Camino a La Vereda" that sway and sashay, or the boleros "Dos Gardenias" and "Veinte A–os", these are songs of love and longing that bore into the center of the soul. You'd be hard pressed to find more authentic and captivating singers than Compay Segundo and Ibrahim Ferrer, who sound like the first voices on earth. Omara Portuondo sings "Veinte A–os" with a depth of tone and feeling that sounds like she's been practicing for ciento a–os. It's spellbinding. This is the music of life. It has absorbed and reflects the dirt streets, tropical heat, and rust patina of a country still locked in a time that has passed. But the music is utterly timeless.