Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer

Ibrahim Ferrer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 1999)
• Original Release Date: June 8, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B00000J7IL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,750 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba > Salsa
  • #13 in Music > Latin Music > Urban > Latin Electronica
  • #23 in Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba > Bolero

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 1999

Picking up where Buena Vista Social Club left off, BVSC Presents Ibrahim Ferrer soothes with the hushed romanticism of Cuba's yesteryear while boasting the talents of one of its greatest singers, Ibrahim Ferrer. Again there's an all-star lineup of musicians led by pianist Rubén González and singer Omara Portuondo creating music at the renowned Egrem studios, whose live room brings the slow lucidity and intense vigor of the Cuban classics to life. --Karen K. Hugg

Amazon.com

It should never cease to amaze how spry and dramatically potent a force is the Buena Vista Social Club. The group--really a gaggle of aging Cuban maestros brought together for stunning all-star performances--keeps its footing in Cuban dance music at the same time as it revels in the lax tempo of layered hand percussion and traditional rhythms. Ibrahim Ferrer stepped to the international fore as the vocalist on the eponymous BVSC CD in 1997 and here furthers his already-obvious command of everything from sultry, horn-swaying ballads to gritty son tunes like "Mamí Me Gustá." Ferrer's tattered vocal inflections shape the more rollicking tunes so their texture is palpable, especially when belted in antiphonal give-and-takes with the rest of the huge band he totes along here. A 15-member-strong string section steps forward on the bolero tracks, which send off a smoldering passion that's startling in light of the BVSC's heightened, horn-charged charts. But the rich string passages color songs in wide brush strokes, which is to say that they heighten the passion to no end. Ferrer's debut might come in his twilight years, but it's a majorly luminous event. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boleros, son & nostalgia, November 7, 2003

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer (Audio CD)

From the beginning of the delicious 'son' titled "Bruca Maniguá" it's impossible not to be dragged into an album that's like a trip through yesterday's Cuba, courtesy of Ibrahim Ferrer and Buena Vista Social Club.

The album is a very successful and contagious combination of 'sones' (happy and rhythm filled pieces) and 'boleros' (the name for Latinamerican ballads). The two most successful samples for each, in my opinion, are "Mami Me Gustó" and "Aquellos Ojos Verdes." The first one, a 'son' composed decades ago by Arsenio Rodríguez, same composer of two more tracks in the album, includes a very upbeat piano solo by Rubén González, followed by a divine solo played by Papí Oviedo on the 'tres' (a three-string instrument from the Caribbean). "... Ojos Verdes" instead, a classic but ageless 'bolero', can bring the most tender memories of an age long gone, where seranading the loved one was the norm, rather than the exception.

When you're done with the CD nostalgia mixes up with happiness, for the fact that Ry Cooder (producer) was able to discover Ibrahim Ferrer's exceptional musical talent. It's so ironic to think that this former Beny More bandmember ("Que bueno baila usted") actually made his record debut hereby, a man born in 1927, but with a sense of romance and rhythm that defies age and any stereotype.

As for the comments some reviewers make, criticizing Ry Cooder's slide guitar playing, I don't agree with them, but then again, it's largely a matter of personal preference.

Final Note: Luckily enough for listeners who don't speak or understand Spanish, the English translation of the lyrics is included.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boleros, son & nostalgia, October 9, 2001

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer (Audio CD)

From the beginning of the delicious 'son' titled "Bruca Maniguá" it's impossible not to be dragged into an album that's like a trip through yesterday's Cuba, courtesy of Ibrahim Ferrer and Buena Vista Social Club.

The album is a very successful and contagious combination of 'sones' (happy and rhythm filled pieces) and 'boleros' (the name for Latinamerican ballads). The two most successful samples for each, in my opinion, are "Mami Me Gustó" and "Aquellos Ojos Verdes." The first one, a 'son' composed decades ago by Arsenio Rodríguez, same composer of two more tracks in the album, includes a very upbeat piano solo by Rubén González, followed by a divine solo played by Papí Oviedo on the 'tres' (a three-string instrument from the Caribbean). "... Ojos Verdes" instead, a classic but ageless 'bolero', can bring the most tender memories of an age long gone, where seranading the loved one was the norm, rather than the exception.

When you're done with the CD nostalgia mixes up with happiness, for the fact that Ry Cooder (producer) was able to discover Ibrahim Ferrer's exceptional musical talent. It's so ironic to think that former this Beny More bandmember ("Que bueno baila usted") actually made his record debut hereby, a man born in 1927, but with a sense of romance and rhythm that defies age and any stereotype.

Final Note: Luckily enough for listeners who don't speak or understand Spanish, the English translation of the lyrics is included.

====================

Desde el momento en que se inicia el sabroso son "Bruca Maniguá" uno se adentra durante el album entero en un exquisito paseo por la musica de la Cuba de antaño, cortesía del cantante Ibrahím Ferrer y Buena Vista Social Club. Desde las estrofas iniciales al sabroso coro "Yenyere Bruca Maniguá", la canción hace irresistible el deseo de seguirla sea con el pie o con la cadera.

Complementando los sones están "Marieta" pieza que posee el mismo don de la canción inicial, levantando a todo el mundo de su asiento con las vibrantes notas que se le meten a uno por el cuerpo. Sumamente especial resulta el solo de guitarra de Eliades Ochoa; y "Mami Me Gustó", son Montuno compuesto por Arsenio Rodríguez (el mismo compositor de "Bruca Maniguá") tiene un solo de piano de proporciones difíciles de describir sin quedarse corto, interpretado por Rubén González, seguido de un divino solo de tres (instrumento de tres cuerdas) de Papí Oviedo.

En cuanto a los boleros, están "Silencio" con Omara Portuondo, quien ya tiene su propio álbum de la serie Buena Vista... Una pieza de increible belleza, con un conjunto de cuerdas acompañando a la pareja cantante de una forma que simplemente va a dejar sin aliento y seguramente podrá arrancarle más de una lágrima a uno; y "Aquellos ojos verdes", una canción clásica, que toda persona que haya crecido en Latinoamérica en algún momento ha escuchado. A algunos podría recordarles a la abuela, pero a otros quizás pueda servirles para dedicarle una serenata a la persona amada.

Cuando uno ya está listo para catalogar este álbum como un clásico de una vez, suena la poderosa pieza "Que bueno baila usted", legendario son de Benny Moré, de cuya banda Ibrahim Ferrer formó parte...

Cerrando con broche de oro, suena el delicioso bolero "Cómo fue", para dejarlo a uno con una mezcla de nostalgia con alegría por el descubrimiento musical que hizo Ry Cooder al grabar a este excepcional cantante, nacido en Santiago de Cuba en 1927... ¡Quién se iba a imaginar un debut a esa edad! ... gracias a Dios no se perdió sin ser grabada su melodiosa voz y su talento al frente de una banda.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this album, February 13, 2000

By 

Luigi (Pavia Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer (Audio CD)

I have listened this album several times before being able to judge it. At the first times it seemed good but not fantastic, just a bit too traditional if compared to BVSC. But after, I have gradually changed my opinion: this is surely a very good work, with the voice of Ibrahim Ferrer that shines. It is as worthy as the first BVSC album. My preferred songs are "Guateque Campesino" and "Bruca manigua".