Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin wrote in the Huffington Post: "Born in 1927, the legendary Cuban vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer was known for his elegance as much as his son and bolero stylings. In the mid-'90s, he was living close to poverty, shining shoes in Havana, when Ry Cooder enlisted him for the Buena Vista Social Club project, which went on to win the 1998 Grammy Award for best tropical Latin performance. Ferrer was literally born in a social club. His mother went into labor on a night out at a dance in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba. At the age of 12, Ferrer sadly became an orphan, and a year later he joined the band Los Jovenes del Son and thus began his professional career. The Buena Vista Social Club brought him unexpected, late-in-life success, earning him the first Latin Grammy for best new artist in 2000. Buenos Hermanos, another collaboration with Ry Cooder, won a Grammy for traditional tropical Latin album in 2004. At the age of 78, Ferrer died in Havana" ("Dog Ears Music: Volume Eighteen," 4/18/08).