It’s the Case of the Battling Buena Vistas. A lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court seeks to ban the hit Broadway musical “The Buena Vista Social Club” from using the name, The Post has learned. The suit, filed Thursday by touring company Jesus “Aguaje” Ramos & His Buena Vista Orchestra, was a counter-attack to cease-and-desist warnings by … Read more
One night in 1984, Compay Segundo, the Cuban singer and guitarist, heard in his dreams what would become his signature song. “I woke up hearing those four sensitive notes,” Segundo recalled later on. “I gave them a lyric inspired by a children’s tale from my childhood, ‘Juanica y Chan Chan.’” A hypnotic account of peasant … Read more
The spirit of the musical “Buena Vista Social Club” is evident in its opening scene. Audience members have barely settled into their seats before a group of onstage musicians strikes up the number “El Carretero,” with the rest of the cast gathered around and watching. Some are leaning in from their chairs, others get up … Read more
Theater review BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB Two hours and 10 minutes, with one intermission. At the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W 45th St. “Buena Vista Social Club,” the new musical that opened Wednesday night at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, is practically a jumbo jet to Havana. So transportive are the intoxicating Cuban music and spirited … Read more
It was an improvisation to begin with. In 1996, a recording session was scheduled in Havana combining Cuban and Malian musicians, but the Africans had visa trouble and didn’t arrive. So instead, an assemblage of veteran Cuban musicians, some coming out of long retirement, recorded a collection of classic Cuban songs. This was “Buena Vista … Read more