So the other day in a fit of pure frustration produced my boredom, I sifted through the tiny collection of DVD’s we have at our apartment. Sex and the City, Wings of Desire, and The Buena Vista Social Club.The last one stood out because it had been discussed in my Spanish class, and because it was not mine and I am the closest thing to anything Latin American in our apartment.
I have to admit it bored me a bit but only because I am not one to sit down and watch a documentary. With my Trader Joe's White Corn Tortilla Chips and Pico de Gallo Salsa by my side, I settled myself into our nice white couch and began watching.
The documentary is about the once thriving center of Cuban Folk music called the Buena Vista Social Club, once located in the city of Havanna. Here all the great musicians would come to play and just jam together. It lives on only in the stories told by the people who witnessed its magic in person during the 1940's. The documentary traces the lives of these great musicians now forgotten. Their stories are brought back to life in this documentary which represents the power music has in uniting a culture. It also captures the process of recording the album as well as their live performances.
Here is the part where I rant because of my love for ethnomusicology. It's amazing how much I love it when I cannot carry a tune and the closest instrument I came to playing was the recorder in 5th grade. I am in no way musically inclined. But like all great music, Cuban Folk music is highly influenced by African music with instruments such as the marimba as well as interlocking note patterns. Interlocking note patterns mean that one person plays one repeated pattern over and over while another plays another different repeating pattern over and over, and it is these notes that combine to form a melody. This results in the flowery and intricate tunes we associate with much of the music of Latin America today. These tunes often cannot be reproduced if they were to be played by one person, and if a single person can play it, it is absolutely mind boggling to musicians and ethnomusicologists alike. Cuban Folk music has an allure all its own that only the patient ear can appreciate.
One thing that struck me was something that one of the producers of the documentary said. Not only was he struck by the beautiful composition and performance, but he was struck by the musicians themselves, and how selfless they were. He commented on how although musicians are paid to play, they are more than willing to showcase their talents for pure enjoyment in any circumstance. Their talent was the greatest gifts they had to offer and they were more than willing to share it with the world. That is the mark of a truly good person.
Another thing that struck me was the beauty of the city of Havanna and the people themselves. Everyone was caught up in the slow pace of life, taking each moment as it came, singing a tune to themselves, greeting everyone they passed on the street. The camera pans along the beaten unpaved roads and diliapidated buildings with their faded pastel paints, all different colors still managing to fit together perfectly to complete the quaint city scene. This is how you always see cities in Latin American countries. You see the ruins, constant reminders of what once was, and what people may never see again. No one bothered to appreciate them for what they were in their hayday until they were gone, much like the Buena Vista Social Club. A piece of Cuban culture was missing for quite some time, and now the musicians of Cuba are attempting to remind the world of the rich musical culture that once thrived in the streets of Havanna.
"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable."
-Aaron Copland