Cuba-based band to perform at White House reception

The reception will feature a musical performance by the Cuba-based band, the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club.

Havana’s legendary Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club will become the first Cuban group to play at the White House in half a century on Thursday, a USA official said.

Obama will deliver a speech at the reception to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. The appearance came amid warming relations between the US and Cuba, Cold War foes whose leaders surprised the world almost a year ago with the announcement that they were restoring diplomatic relations after more than a half-century of animosity.

Coincidentally, Buena Vista Social Club played a concert in the Venue in Derry in 2013. They exploded in the late 1990s, re-introducing a traditional Cuban “big band” to American listeners who had not heard the sounds in decades. Director Wim Wenders collaborated with Cooder in a documentary film about the Cuban musicians in 1998, which was also entitled Buena Vista Social Club.

Other “Lost and Found” songs were recorded following the success of the group’s self-titled album, Rolling Stone noted.

Buena Vista veterans have toured globally and gained commendation for their recordings, including solo music from singers Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo, pianist Rubén González, and bassist Cachaíto López, Rolling Stone listed.