Review: Buena Vista Social Club

Apr 21 2008 by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail

St David's Hall

THE Buena Vista Social Club has become the byword for Cuban music in the past decade, exuding the richness of the island’s history and culture.

It would be easy to assume that the ensemble would have lost some of its charm and skill since it became the most popular form of world music.

But, judging by the 12-piece’s virtuoso performance at St David’s Hall on Thursday night, the spotlight has done little to dent the band’s enthusiasm and talent.

Walking calmly onto the stage the collective – many of whom are beyond the official retirement age – burst into a non-stop sublime two-hour set, which brought the richness and warmth of Cuba into a cold corner of Wales.

The sheer skill of these musicians was astounding – each song was used as a showcase for various members to ad-lib to their heart’s content, be it the screaming wail of the trumpet; the heartbeat of percussion or the twanging of the bass, which came alive in the fingers of veteran Cachiato Lopez.

There is something so effortless about Cuban rhythm when it is played at its best, and yet the music itself is a complex collection of off-beats and precision timing.

But in the Buena Vista Social Club’s hands it just happened – each of the 12 musicians perfectly in sync with each other, while cha-cha-cha-ing to the beat.

The brass section were a joy to watch as they sashayed their way through the evening, matched only by the swaying hips of the female singer, whose soaring vocals brought back more than a hint of my honeymoon in Cuba.

I counted at least five people dancing in the corner of the sold-out auditorium halfway through the performance.

By the end of the show the entire audience were on their feet, literally clamouring for more.

We were rewarded with a beautiful encore and a fantastically upbeat dance number, which finally got the toe-tappers to take to the aisle en masse and try out their salsa lessons on the real thing.

Madeleine Brindley