Global conquest was on no one’s agenda when a clutch of Cuban veterans cut Buena Vista Social Club with Ry Cooder back in 1996, but the album became a phenomenon. Though several key players have since passed, the group are currently on an “Adios” tour, to which this collection of live tracks and studio offcuts is a nice companion. The passion and intimacy of those original sessions is there on tracks by Compay Segundo and Omara Portuondo; Ibrahim Ferrer’s three live songs capture him with a brassy big band; and guitarist Eliades Ochoa has two winning after-hours pieces. A patchy but sweet memento.
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