Buena Vista Social Club (The Criterion Collection)

Review Traveling from the streets of Havana to the stage of Carnegie Hall, this revelatory documentary captures a forgotten generation of Cubas brightest musical talents as they enjoy an unexpected brush with world fame. The veteran vocalists and instrumentalists collaborated with American guitarist and roots-music champion Ry Cooder to form the Buena Vista Social Club, playing a jazz-inflected mix of cha-cha, mambo, bolero, and other traditional Latin American styles, and recording an album that won a Grammy and made them an international phenomenon. In the wake of this success, director Wim Wenders filmed the ensembles membersincluding golden-voiced Ibrahim Ferrer and piano virtuoso Rub?Gonz?zin a series of illuminating interviews and live performances. The result is one of the most beloved music documentaries of the 1990s, and an infectious ode to a neglected corner of Cubas prerevolutionary heritage. DIRECTOR-APPROVED TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES -New high-definition digital transfer -Audio commentary from 1999 featuring director Wim Wenders -New interview with Wenders -We Believe in Dreams, a new piece featuring never-before-seen outtakes from the rehearsals for the Buena Vista Social Clubs Amsterdam concerts -Interview from 1998 with musician Compay Segundo on his career and the Cuban music scene -Radio interviews from 2000 featuring musicians Ibrahim Ferrer, Rub?Gonz?z, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, and others -Additional scenes -Trailer -PLUS: An essay by author and geographer Joshua Jelly-Schapiro