Buena Vista Social Club 30th Anniversary Edition is out now via World Circuit Records. Produced by Ry Cooder and Executive Produced by Nick Gold, the classic multi-million-selling Grammy-winning album has been reissued on ‘pearl sunrise’ colour double-LP, reflecting pearl’s long-standing association with 30-year anniversaries. The album is available to order here.
On 26 March 1996, the trio of Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos González, American producer and guitarist Ry Cooder, and British producer and label owner Nick Gold assembled an impromptu group of Cuban musicians at Centro Havana’s historic 1950’s EGREM/Areito studios. The majority of those gathered were celebrated veterans of the golden age of the Cuban music scene of the 1940s and ’50s. None of them had any idea that the recordings they were about to produce would change the lives of many people, themselves included, and would forever change the standing of Cuban music in the world. Buena Vista Social Club was the name given to both this extraordinary group of musicians and the album, recorded in just seven days. The studio, owned by Cuba’s national label EGREM, was originally installed in the 1940s and is celebrated as a great jewel in recording history. The large wood-panelled studio enabled recording to take place with the full ensemble playing ‘live’, which puts the listener right in the room amongst the musicians. There is no doubt that this played a major part in the magical sound of the final recordings.
It was clear from the atmosphere of the recording sessions that something very special was taking place, but no one could have predicted that the album would become a worldwide phenomenon, be awarded a Grammy in 1997, and, at over 8 million copies, outsell any other record in the same genre. The impact of those sessions is still felt 30 years later, and the vibrance and seductive allure of Cuba’s rich history and culture shine as brightly in these definitive recordings. The acclaim of the original album elevated the artists (including Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoa, Compay Segundo, Rubén González & Omara Portuondo) to superstar status, inspired an award-winning film by Wim Wenders, a Tony Award-Winning Broadway Musical, and contributed to popularising Cuba’s rich musical heritage.
As a sidebar, March 2025 saw the official opening of the Buena Vista Social Club Broadway stage show. Inspired by the true events, the musical brings the original album to life, weaving fiction with history to reimagine the story of the legends behind the music. Winner of 5 Tony Awards, the show is making history on Broadway as the first musical featuring its entire song score sung completely in Spanish, with the show’s story and scenes performed in English. In February 2026, the show’s Original Broadway Cast Recording, released by World Circuit Records, produced by GRAMMY Award winners Dean Sharenow and David Yazbek, co-produced by Marco Paguia and Orin Wolf, and Executive Produced by Allan Williams, won the GRAMMY for Best Musical Theatre Album.
Side A (2021 Remaster)
Chan Chan
De Camino a La Vereda
El Cuarto de Tula
Pueblo Nuevo
Side B (2021 Remaster)
Dos Gardenias
¿Y Tú Qué Has Hecho?
Veinte Años
El Carretero
Candela
Side C (2021 Remaster)
Amor de Loca Juventud
Orgullecida
Murmullo
Buena Vista Social Club
La Bayamesa
Side D (Bonus tracks)
Vicenta
La Pluma
A Tus Pies
La Cleptómana
Orgullecida (Alternate Trio Take)
