8 February, 2000:  Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben Gonzalez, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, Md.  

So up the Parkway to Baltimore - home of  John Walters, "Homicide", crab cakes and, on this evening, icy sidewalks.  Walters, the idiosyncratic director and schlockmeister, once said of this unique metropolis: " ... you'll never discover a stranger city with such extreme style. It's as though all the eccentrics from the South travelled North, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay."  Speaking of quotes, I think it was JFK that said of Washington: "A city of southern efficiency and northern charm."  So, you'll understand why I like Baltimore a city with blue collar roots, a vibrant Little Italy, the bars of Fells Point, the Inner Harbor (likeable even with its "theme" cafes), lots of interesting old buildings to balance the awful glass and concrete monstrosities thrown up by financial institutions and the government, the best baseball stadium in the cosmos, culture and some fine affordable eateries. 

After a bite to eat in a former speakeasy at a the wonderful old hotel (the name of which escapes me), we skated to the Meyerhoff a recently thrown up (I mean that in the diced carrots sense) auditorium.  Never have I been in a venue with so many doors and so many stairs.  How anyone physically incapacitated copes with this maze I do not know. 

As usual with gigs booked through Ticket Master Thieves, we were in another zip code from the stage.  So high up that I'm sure I was getting an altitude headache.  All this for $19, plus $2 handling charge and $5 "convenience" charge.  Convenience for who?  Shareholders of Ticket Master methinks. 

Final moan: this was not the place to hold such an event.  The acoustics were not designed for amplification and the PA was turned down so low that all we got upstairs was a muddy melange of garbled Spanish, drums, piano and horns.  And, nowhere to dance.  Sit down gig, my arse. 

Okay, apart from that, this was such a special night.  You know the story.  Ry Cooder goes to Cuba in 1996 to meet up with West African musicians.  The musicians get lost somewhere en route so at Nick Gold, founder and boss man of World Circuit Records, suggests he meet up with lost local musicians in Havana.  Cooder hooks up with legendary guitarist Compay Segundo (then 89), ancient yet sprightly crooner Ferrer, maestro of the keys Gonzalez, bassist Orlando Lopez, songbird Omara Portuondo and many others.  As Cooder tells it, these forgotten son musicians literally came out of the woodwork, congregated in the studio and laid down what is now the classic Buena Vista Social Club a collection of Cuban standards.  What stands apart in this record is the brilliant seamless ensemble workings of the musicians, the almost lost rhythms of the Caribbean.  Close your eyes and you could be in Bautista led Cuba in the days before the bearded one. 

Gonzalez opened with his orchestra, followed by Ibrahim Ferrer and his orchestra.  In fact the two orchestras were pretty much the same performers.  Even in the cheap(er) seats the magic of these performers was evident.  Despite their age, they are all virtuosi and possess amazing stamina.  The two and a half hour show was a roller coaster of ballads, bolero and cha-cha-chas.  Even the suits were up and clapping by the end.  Of particular interest were the duets between Ferrer and Portuondo, a feature of the Wim Wenders documentary which must surely take an Oscar in March.  My favourite songs are the sublime "Chan Chan", the jumpy syncopated "De Camino a La Vereda", "Pueblo Nuevo" featuring the ivories of Gonzalez, the two chord riff of "Candela", the guijira "El Carretero" (check the obvious West African blues connection here) and of course the "title track".  Buena Vista Social Club was, in fact, a real club in Havana (one of dozens that thrived until the sixties) where many of these musicians played at one time or another. 

See the movie, buy the CDs and beg borrow or steal a ticket (preferably not in the back row). 

I wasn't able to get to see Eliades Ochoa, the guitarist with the cowboy hat who also featured in the Wenders film.  He played at the Birchmere, Alexandria, Va on 26 February. 
 
 

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