At Carnegie Hall

It seems very strange that World Circuit/Nonesuch would wait ten long years to issue this historic document of the grand, wildly celebrated Buena Vista Social Club concert at Carnegie Hall. This is the very show so wonderfully and artfully detailed by filmmaker Wim Wenders in his documentary on the project that reunited these then-obscure Cuban music legends for an album and a tour and catapulted them to worldwide fame. Perhaps it was worth the wait; perhaps this music should have been in our midst all along. Of the four older legends, those who had made music together in Cuba before Castro, only Omara Portuondo remains on the Earth, and she is still quite active. The other three, vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer, pianist Rubén González, and guitarist and vocalist Compay Segundo, have passed away -- Segundo lived to be 96! The youngster of the group, guitarist Eliades Ochoa, continues to record and tour....by Thom Jurek---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Artwork – Iwant DesignBongos, Cowbell, Guiro – Roberto GarcíaCongas – Angel 'Terry' Domech*Cover – Iwant Design, Jon Smith (13)Double Bass – Orlando 'Cachaíto' López*, Salvador Repilado*Drums, Percussion – Joachim CooderEngineer [Assistant Mix] – Joshua SmithExecutive-Producer – Nick GoldGuitar – Benito Suárez Magana*Guitar, Producer – Ry CooderGuitar, Vocals – Compay Segundo, Eliades OchoaLaúd [Laoud] – Barbarito TorresLeader, Backing Vocals, Guiro – Juan De Marcos GonzálezMaracas, Backing Vocals – Alberto 'Virgilio' Valdés*Mastered By – Bernie GrundmanMixed By – Martin PradlerPhotography By – Donata Wenders, Ebet Roberts, Geraint Lewis, Jon Smith (13), Susan TitelmanPiano – Rubén GonzálezRecorded By – Jerry Boys, John Bates, John Harris, Randy EzrattySleeve Notes – Nigel WilliamsonTimbales – Amadito ValdésTrombone, Leader [For Rubén Gonzaléz] – Jesús 'Agauje' Ramos*Trumpet – Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal, Octavio CalderónVocals – Hugo Garzón, Ibrahim Ferrer, Manuel 'Puntillita' Licea*, Omara Portuondo, Pío Leyva