The man from Santiago de Cuba returns with the album Vamos A Bailar Un Son and celebrates 25 years of the Buena Vista Social Club which introduced traditional Cuban music, the “sound”, to the rest of the world.
From Cuba to the rest of the world is the name of a documentary about Eliades Ochoa, one of the survivors of the Buena Vista Social Club. This Cuban adventure is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Eliades continues the adventure with the Cuarteto Patria and his guitar, which has always played “sound” (the “Sound” cultural heritage since 2012).
A living legend of sound, this fabulous singer-guitarist is one of the emblematic figures of Cuban music. Partner of Compay Segundo, he was part of the formidable adventure of Buena Vista Social Club of which this year celebrates the 25e anniversary. Festival-goers had already been able to hear his extraordinary voice and discover his incomparable guitar playing alongside Afrocubism on this same stage in 2011 or with Omara Portuando in 2015. With a generosity that is matched only by his virtuosity, the sonero from Santiago de Cuba honors with its group founded in 1982, the traditional repertoire. Boleros, guarachas, trovas and sones from the 20s, 30s and 40s bring a deliciously old-fashioned air to the main stage: vamos todos a bailar!
Eliades Ochoa is cradled from an early age to the rhythms of Cuba and inherits the innate musical appetite of his family. He even creates his own guitar to find the sound that best suits his game. Starting in the streets of Songo La Maya at the age of 13, little Eliades, 50 years of career later, becomes the captain of the Buena Vista Social Club and a prominent member of Afrocubism at the Grammy for Best Record in 2012. Cuban Johnny Cash, as he is usually called, happily defends the traditional music of his island. Throughout the six decades he spent on stage, he collaborated with big names in music like Ry Cooder, Toumani Diabaté, Manu Dibango, Vieux Farka Touré, not to mention his many influences like Bob Dylan, Rafael Cueto and Ñico Saquito.
“For the music I make, there are no distant countries, languages or borders, there is none of that. I’m a jíbaro proud to get theaters up and running, and I owe that to the fact that I never stopped making traditional Cuban music. Cuban bran is the main course in my restaurant.” Eliades Ochoa
Titles performed at the Grand studio
– El Carretero Live RFI see clip RFI videos
– Extract Chan Chan / Buena Vista see clip
– Extract El Manisero, Feat. Manu Dibango, Cuarteto Patria (El Manisero, the Peanut Seller)
– Pena Live RFI, see RFI videos clip.
Line-up
– Eliades Ochoa, guitar, vocals
– Church Ochoapercussion, backing vocals
– Jose Martinezdouble bass.
Sound: Benoît Letirant and Mathias Taylor.
Translation: Sara Jarquin-Brigodiot.
His concert dates:
> July 12: South Festivals in Arles
> August 7: End of the World Festival
> August 8, 2022: Summer evenings in Gordes
> May 31, 2023: Trianon in Paris.
For further