About

It’s a postcard from Old Havana. In 1996, in defiance of a travel ban, U.S. guitarist Ry Cooder traveled to Havana to record the Buena Vista Social Club, a band of Cuban musicians who had formed in tribute to the long-defunct nightclub of the same name. The resulting album, named after the band, became a sleeper hit, earning a Grammy Award and selling 12 million copies. Most of those artists have passed away, so the release of this intoxicating collection of 14 studio outtakes and live tracks from the 2000s is welcome. The album kicks off with a live version of “Bruca Manigua,” a 1930s lament sung by the peerless Ibrahim Ferrer.

It elicits contagious Latin dance rhythms, percolating percussion, a salutary horn section, and Spanish-language vocals buoyed by the swell of the audience’s appreciative cheers. Other highlights include octogenarian singer Compay Segundo’s “Macusa,” a classic Santiago-style song that pairs him with singer and guitarist Eliades Ochoa (the two teamed up on the original album’s most famous track, “Chan Chan”). Ochoa also contributes two solo numbers recorded after-hours during the original sessions. Plus there’s a sultry duet by bassist Cachaíto López and Miguel “Angá” Díaz, and jazz pianist Ruben Gonzalez’s last recorded danzon-style song. — (via The Absolute Sound)

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Applause is a fitting sound to open a new Buena Vista Social Club record. It starts polite and measured, simmering beneath the opening rise of horn and percussion. Then, when they really roll the sound out, about a minute in, the crescendo of cheers hits a note of pure and grateful elation. It’s easy to enter into the spirit of it, even listening at home. It’s a true pleasure to have them back.

To put your fears at rest: it’s immediately apparent that this isn’t some tossed off cash-in or vanity piece. It’s a wonderful celebration of their legacy. The nature of Lost and Found – a scrapbook of new recordings, old songs and live cuts – means that it’s a little looser and less unified than their classic self-titled 1997 album. But it’s clearly lovingly and guardedly created. It doesn’t bother to pretend that it’s some definitive statement. It’s just another snapshot of their devotion to Cuban jazz.

‘Black Chicken 37’ is a thin and understated percussive piece. ‘Habenera’ is just a melancholic two minute instrumental sketch. And in being so relaxed and whimsical, putting moments like this among its showstoppers, its pacing comes off confident and controlled. It gives us an album which flows like an album, rather than lurching around like a collection of offcuts might. — (via Drowned in Sound)

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- Reissued on 180g vinyl
- Includes 12 page booklet with photos & credits

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Label: World Circuit
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 180g
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 2015
Genre: Jazz, Latin, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Afro-Cuban Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Danzon, Son

File under: Latin-Inspired
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