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When filmmaker Wim Wenders and composer/guitarist headed to Cuba to film a documentary about legendary Cuban musicians, they likely had no idea that this group of eclectic and eccentric purveyors of son, who had performed music their whole lives with little fanfare, would suddenly become a World-wide phenomenon.
That is exactly what happened in 1996 when Cooder first gathered together such Cuban musical legends as Ibrahim Ferrer and Eliades Ochoa to record the Grammy-award winning Buena Vista Social Club. The album inspired a documentary of the same name, which graced theatres in the late 90's and brought a lot of attention to these performers, many of whom are in their 60's and 70's. In fact, in their native Cuba, these men are known as los superabuelos: "the super-grandfathers." Sell-out concerts in Amsterdam and in New York's Carnegie Hall soon followed. Wim Wenders is known as a World film producer who has often used Ry Cooder's talent as a composer for several of his films such as Paris, Texas and The End of Violence. Filmed in Havana, Buena Vista Social Club found Wender's lens upon Cooder this time. But who exactly are these masterful Cuban musicians? Click below for a summary of these legendary Cuban musicians who now are known throughout the World:Next page > Meet the Members: Ibrahim Ferrer >
