Cuban musician Manuel “Guajiro” Mirabal, trumpeter of the Buena Vista Social Club, died this Monday in Havana at the age of 91, announced the Cuban Institute of Music.
Mirabal “is considered one of the greatest trumpet players in Cuba and the world,” his “death represents an immense loss for Cuban music and culture,” the Institute stated on Facebook.
“Thank you for everything, dear friend,” the Buena Vista diva, Omara Portuondo, reacted on social media, referring to her “dear brother,” a “great friend, great musician, great man.” The 94-year-old singer, known for her warm voice, ended her artistic career at the beginning of October.
The Institute said Manuel Mirabal’s funeral would take place on Tuesday morning in Havana.
70 years of career
Born on May 5, 1933 in Melena del Sur, about fifty kilometers from the Cuban capital, he began his musical career in 1951 and played the trumpet for more than 70 years.
He was a member of important Cuban orchestras, such as the Conjunto Rumbahabana and the Riverside Orchestra, but it was his participation in the Buena Vista Social Club project that contributed to his international fame.
Most of the musicians of Buena Vista Social Club have already passed away, such as Ibrahim Ferrer (died in 2005), Compay Segundo (2003) and Rubén González (2003).
Phenomenal success
In the late 1990s, Cuban star Juan de Marcos González, the World Circuit’s Nick Gold label and American guitarist Ry Cooder persuaded these former glories from the golden age of Cuban music to reunite and return to the scenarios, even if it meant coming out of retirement. for some.
The album recorded in six days, called Buenavista Social Club in homage to a private club in Havana that had closed its doors after the Cuban revolution, it was immediately a phenomenal success.
It won a Grammy Award in 1998 and is the best-selling Cuban album of all time. The adventure of these Cuban stars was immortalized in the film Buenavista Social Club by German director Wim Wenders.
Source: BFM TV
