Nights At The Roundtable - Cuarteto D'Aida - 1957
By Gordonskene Saturday Nov 28, 2009 6:30pm
(Cuarteto D'Aida - Cancion Cubano at its best)
A taste of something recorded in Havana on March 31, 1957 - the legendary Cuarteto D'Aida with an orchestra arranged and led by the equally legendary Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill.
This is a whole world of music not a lot of people (at least here in the U.S.) have checked out, or even been exposed to. Thanks to films like Buena Vista Social Club, awareness of this rich vein of musical culture has finally come back into light. Sadly, it's been hidden away for too many years. Blame the Cuban revolution in 1959, blame the U.S. embargo, blame lots of things. Fact is - it's great music and it's gone unnoticed for a very long time. But lots of it, like this track, Profecia, have been sitting in the vaults at RCA and other U.S. labels and haven't been reissued since they first came out. RCA had studios in Havana and recorded a lot of these groups, as did many other labels. Fortunately, much of it is being reissued and discovered and is slowly becoming available.
So if this track appeals - there's a lot more where that came from.
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and NONE of them like the Buena Vista Social Club.
I quote - almost word for word:
"Ya - Beuna Vista Social Club is what a bunch of white Americans like because they listen to David Byrne and think he's smart or important or something. I think BVSG sucks."
No, I am not kidding.
I like them because I always thought the BVSC was wildly overrated.
Fuck Castro.
http://www.cubaencuentro.com/es/multimedia/vi...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OT_tbU2r4M&fe...
...had to cancel a European tour due to ill-health, hope she is well soon.
Beba Mendez, Cuban singer from the '60s now in Mexico City here
Am I missing something here? Why is the Aida Quartet a quintet?
Listening to people badmouth BVSC makes me think of that scene in the Woody Allen movie where he listens in disbelief as his friends denigrate Mahler and van Gogh. They're not godlike, but they kept a tradition going against all odds and have made some lovely music. Doubtless there are others, just as good, who weren't discovered by Ry Cooder, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them.
Aida Diestro (black dress) was the pianist and she had four singers who were her quartet.
As for Mahler, I like him generally in the first half of his works, and even sometimes in the second half when he repeats the first half.
The Buena Vista Social Club has nothing to do with David Byrne. Ry Cooder, a respected musician and preserver of historical music of the U.S. and Cuba was behind that. Brain should be engaged before attempting to jot down information.
I would think that the Cuban exiles in Miami (or wherever your Cuban friends live) would love those old-time singers from BEFORE Castro.
From the time when Havana still consisted of brothels, casinos and gangsters. Your "good old days".
In any case, Cuarteto d'Aida sounds unbelievably bland to me. They sound as dead as groups like The Modernairs and The 4 Freshmen.
I like Los Van Van and Orishas. Cuban groups that actually feel the music they play. Nothing like the blah harmony of the mid-50s.
Long live Fidel!
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