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Friday, August 28, 2009

2 original Buena Vista members to tour Brazil

Posted on Thursday, 08.27.09
2 original Buena Vista members to tour Brazil
The Associated Press

HAVANA -- Two of the youngest founding members of Cuba's legendary Buena
Vista Social Club held a jam session in central Havana on Thursday, a
tuneup for their three-city tour of Brazil next week.

Percussionist Amadito Valdes, 63, and Barbarito Torres, a decade his
junior, rehearsed with younger musicians for a small group of
journalists at the home of Fabian Garcia, a bassist who will join the
pair in concerts in Sao Paulo, Refife and Olinda beginning Sept. 1.
Torres plays a Cuban lute called the "laud."

"We are going to play all of our traditional songs: son, danzon, bolero,
all those things identified with Buena Vista Social Club," Valdes said.

Garcia's century-old, colonial-style home featured towering pillars and
a large portrait of Jesus Christ in the living room, which was brimming
with practicing musicians. The rehearsal was not open to the public, but
neighbors stuck their heads in street-level windows for a better view.

Many members of the original Buena Vista group have died since American
guitarist and producer Ry Cooder brought the aging Cuban musicians
together in the 1990s and they became international stars. But Valdes
said he thinks the group's "transcendence is guaranteed with the
incorporation of talented youngsters who play our music."

About a dozen musicians will participate in the tour, including Valdes'
28-year-old daughter, Idania, a singer who recently recorded a solo
album, and Teresa Garcia Caturla, or "Tete", who has sung with the
Afro-Cuban All-Stars.

2 original Buena Vista members to tour Brazil - Entertainment AP -
MiamiHerald.com (28 August 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/AP/story/1205494.html

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