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Singing praises of seniors-only supergroup

Buena Vista Social Club: Adios revisits some of the Cuban ensemble's triumphs and provides the backstory to its main players.

Published Thu, Aug 24, 2017 · 09:50 PM

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    OLD musicians never die, they just fade away. Or show up in tribute documentaries like Buena Vista Social Club: Adios, director Lucy Walker's follow-up to the 1997 album and accompanying Wim Wenders film that introduced the world to a group of ageing Cuban musicians and their distinctive Afro-Cuban sound, known as son.

    Twenty years after bursting onto the World Music scene, the documentary revisits some of the group's triumphs while also providing the backstory to a number of its main players.

    The film comprises black-and-white archival footage, some behind-the-scenes moments from the Wenders documentary and more recent material involving the surviving members of the ensemble - primarily a seniors-only supergroup of singers and musicians who were well past retirement age when they made a hit album together.

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