WEBVTT

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There was a time when Compay Segundo was presumed dead.

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Ibrahim Ferrer was shining shoes.

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Rubén González hadn't played for years and didn't even own a piano.

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They were men that time forgot. Voices from a bygone era.

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They would have one of the greatest comebacks in music history, and it was a

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complete accident. Compay, Ibrahim, and Rubén, together with a diva,

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a cowboy, and the nephew of a legendary bassist in a

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studio for six days.

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The album they would make together would go on to sell eight million copies,

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win a Grammy, and become the subject of an Oscar-nominated

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documentary.

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How did this accidental album of music nearly lost to time

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become a global phenomenon?

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This is Buena Vista Social Club.

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I'm Adam Maness.

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And I'm Peter Martin.

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And you're listening to the You'll Hear It podcast.

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Music explored.

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Explored, brought to you today by Open Studio.

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Go to openstudiojazz.com for, ooh,

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your jazz listen needs, Peter.

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Yes, sir.

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Big day.

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Oh, my gosh.

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Big day.

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Always big day, but really, really big day.

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How do you say big day in Spanish?

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Well, no. You don't even know how big of a day it actually is.

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I can see there's a little glimmer in your eye.

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I am excited.

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But I didn't even tell you in our extensive pre-game ritual

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of getting to know each other's feelings about the record-

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Mm-hmm

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... and how we wanted to do this, I didn't even mention this.

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And I'm going to keep it a little bit of a secret till we get to the end.

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Shh.

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Yeah. Now they know, though. But we have a segment, we

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have categories at the end. We have a segment called Desert Island Tracks, and I'm

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going to do something today that I've never done before.

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Don't ruin the show.

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I'm-

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You're going to ruin our show?

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No. I'm going next level. I'm leveling up.

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He's going to ruin the show.

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Stick around, and I promise you-

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Yeah

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... if I forget, please remind me. But Adam doesn't know, none of the producers

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know. I think all the producers have left, by the way.

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They're gone.

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We're by ourselves.

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They don't want to be here anymore.

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But anyway, I'm excited about that little thing.

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Because man, I love this record. I love this record so much.

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I love it, too. Maybe not as much as that, where I'm shaking.

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This is, of course, we're talking about Buena Vista Social Club.

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Look at those guys.

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Is that not joy?

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That guy.

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Is that not joy?

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Those guys.

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First of all, this packaging of, what is that, the 25th anniversary or something?

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This is the 25th anniversary, a couple of years ago.

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Man, the CD 25th anniversary packaging-

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2021

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... is amazing.

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It is so good. Oh, look at this.

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It's a-

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I love CDs. I love LPs, but I'm not that much on the hipster train with the LPs.

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I never left. But this-

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Buddy, we're bringing back physical media-

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I know

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... here at the You'll Hear It podcast.

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And I love, this was never out, and they probably made some weird

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jazz wax

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LP of this, but this is not that. Oh, this is a great record, a great

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story, and it was a phenomenon.

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It was.

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Do you remember it? Were you around?

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I was around.

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You were in grade school or something?

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And you couldn't not remember it because it was everywhere.

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For a couple of years-

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But you were young.

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I was a teenager.

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Yeah, okay.

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It came out in June 1997.

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Yes.

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And then a documentary came out two years later in 1999, and then it blew up.

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It blew up.

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It blew up twice, basically.

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Yeah.

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And actually, the second time might've been bigger than the first.

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Yeah.

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Because all of a sudden, I think the documentary was nominated for an Oscar

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even.

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Yeah.

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And all these people saw-

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It's a major motion picture

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... and heard this music. And also just the story of these people, as we mentioned

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in the intro, is so unbelievable-

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Oh

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... that it makes for a compelling album.

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Then, on top of it, you got some of the greatest music recorded, maybe in the

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20th century. It's pretty good, man.

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And I think that's what makes this

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work, is the, I mean, the documentary's great. The story is great.

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Wim Wenders, the great, I believe he's German, documentarian.

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The footage-

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Wim Wenders is German, yes.

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Wim Wenders. Sorry.

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Wim Wenders.

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The cover. We're going to get into that.

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Oh, put your monster off.

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But I think none of that matters if the music isn't killing.

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And upon going back to this record, I realized, first of all, just how important a

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record it was for me.

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Yeah.

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I got to see them live a couple of times. Actually, a bunch of times.

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And in fact, there's still a touring group with...

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I don't think there's anybody still...

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Well, Juan de Marcos is around, who we're going to talk about a little.

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I think Omar's still around.

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Yes. Right. And look, there's a lot.

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Remind me to tell you my Omar story in Chicago.

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Oh, sweet.

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But there's a lot of just personal things.

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We talk about nostalgia with different records and stuff.

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This was my daughter's first concert, Saenger Theatre, New Orleans,

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1999.

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Wait.

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She was still in Mom's belly.

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I was going to say.

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Literally her first concert. But she was big.

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I mean, she was like-

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Wasn't she born in '99?

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She was born in 2000.

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She was 2000.

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Yeah.

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How she-

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It was like December or January.

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One of the most incredible... When you go to a concert

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and you're either introduced to that artist for the first time, I already knew.

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I mean, the record, I'd seen the documentary, I'd seen them

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play, but this was the first time seeing them live with my family.

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It was one of the most stunning, exciting, authentic, grooving, everybody

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was on their feet. This is New Orleans.

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Yeah.

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So, maybe the one place in the States that has that kind of

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cultural attenuation to be able to connect with something like that right

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across the Gulf into the Caribbean.

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Yeah.

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Man, it was just one of the greatest cultural moments of my life.

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So, check out some of these stats. Eight million copies sold.

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Damn.

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Eight million copies sold. I believe it makes it the best-selling

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Cuban music album ever.

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And did you see what's right under that?

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Eight million, seven million of them were sold in Starbucks.

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That's what's crazy about it.

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And then 5,000 in Barnes & Noble. No, it reached number

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80 on the Billboard charts as an album.

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Which doesn't sound like a lot-

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Yeah

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... but if you think about it, every song is in Spanish.

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Yes.

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Sung by usually an octogenarian.

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Yes.

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And that is crazy, because this isn't like today, where there's still, by the

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way, big battles over music in Spanish-

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Oh

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... playing in English-speaking countries, which is kind of silly.

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But that just didn't happen at this time.

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No. And, I mean, the fact that it reached 80, this was

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selling for years.

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Years.

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So, I don't think it was ever... I mean, I'm shocked that it was even that high.

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It was a huge five-year window.

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Yeah.

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And this wasn't just popular in America.

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And I think-

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This was popular all over the world

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All over the world.

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In France, in Germany.

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Yeah.

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I believe it made it to-

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Africa. Especially West Africa, yeah.

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Africa, Asia, all over Europe.

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Yeah.

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And, of course, the Caribbean and South America, but

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man-

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What do you mean?Of course

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Because it's Caribbean.

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Oh, got you.

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What are you talking about?

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This is a little pressure test there. You passed.

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And because the songs are in Spanish.

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Right. Speaking of Spanish-

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Yeah

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... full disclosure-

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Oh, boy

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... we are going to-

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I'm so nervous.

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We're going to

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say all these words, we're going to make some mistakes, but it's out of love,

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shout-out to-

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Shout-out to Brenda Tull, my 11th grade Spanish teacher

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Yeah. What we're not going to do is call it, "The recording was made in Havana,"

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because that sounds like I'm saying banana.

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Buddy, I'm just trying to get the vowels right.

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I

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really did not do well in Spanish in high school, and I'm super nervous.

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And the word that I can pronounce the best in Spanish is

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gringo. So please take everything with a little bit of

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kindness today.

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What I realized was a lot of the Spanish, the little bit that I do know comes from

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listening to this record so much.

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I know. I was going to say.

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And then just trying to figure it out or connecting some things.

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Chan Chan.

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Yeah. Chan Chan.

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You got that.

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So anyway, I can't wait to get into this.

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Should we sort of jump right in and then just talk as we go?

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Well, let's go into maybe one of the greatest opening tracks of an album ever.

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This is Chan Chan and-

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Chan Chan

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... it's magical.

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Ah.

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Written in 1984.

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Yes. I know, that's crazy.

231
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Not in 1920.

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No. By Compay Segundo.

233
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Yeah, by Compay.

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If it's just something like...

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This is such

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primal, melodic, and rhythmic content, but it's so

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It's so perfect and

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authentic.

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It's

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a little

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dirty, isn't it? The lyrics? I could be wrong with that.

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No, it does get into a little bit, yeah.

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A little sexy?

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Well,

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loose translation into English here, "How her bottom shook, and Chan

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Chan was aroused."

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I love it.

248
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That works better in Spanish than in English. Baby.

249
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It does.

250
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Man.

251
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Yeah. It just f***s everything up.

252
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It really does.

253
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It sounds so beautiful.

254
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Yeah.

255
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But this is Compay Segundo, and is it Ibrahim Ferrer? No, no.

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Who is he singing with?

257
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I don't know. We're going to figure all that out.

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The one thing that I do know is we're going to talk about Cachaito,

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the bass player who's all over this record.

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Honestly-

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Killing it

262
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... not to be too controversial, but English as a

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language for

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song-

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Yeah

266
00:08:41.904 --> 00:08:44.433
... really does pale in comparison to all the romantic languages.

267
00:08:44.484 --> 00:08:45.524
Yeah. Absolutely.

268
00:08:45.564 --> 00:08:46.324
Spanish, Portuguese-

269
00:08:46.384 --> 00:08:46.424
Yeah

270
00:08:46.433 --> 00:08:47.284
... Italian, French.

271
00:08:47.624 --> 00:08:47.864
Yeah.

272
00:08:47.914 --> 00:08:50.283
And to most others, actually.

273
00:08:50.704 --> 00:08:53.374
Taylor Swift and Beyoncé might argue with you on that, but-

274
00:08:53.384 --> 00:08:54.204
This is so beautiful.

275
00:08:54.304 --> 00:08:55.024
I know, it really is.

276
00:08:55.904 --> 00:09:01.184
"So

277
00:09:01.244 --> 00:09:03.484
I can get to that trunk, I want to sit down."

278
00:09:04.704 --> 00:09:05.304
That's what they just said.

279
00:09:07.884 --> 00:09:09.134
Ooh. Yeah, raccoon is playing himself.

280
00:09:09.134 --> 00:09:09.644
Yeah. Right.

281
00:09:10.844 --> 00:09:11.004
Oh.

282
00:09:12.064 --> 00:09:12.563
Compay.

283
00:09:14.344 --> 00:09:18.284
This is a son, and I hope I'm saying that right, S-O-N,

284
00:09:18.324 --> 00:09:21.744
which is a style. This is the groove, it's the vibe, it's

285
00:09:21.824 --> 00:09:25.584
how they're doing this. This is not from Havana, although they did it

286
00:09:25.644 --> 00:09:25.824
there.

287
00:09:26.704 --> 00:09:29.784
This is from the country. This is a vibe.

288
00:09:30.154 --> 00:09:33.993
And what I love about this record is you've got different Cuban styles, and

289
00:09:34.024 --> 00:09:35.584
there's definitely influences from different places.

290
00:09:35.624 --> 00:09:39.424
In fact, later on in the record, there's quite a bit of American jazz and even

291
00:09:39.484 --> 00:09:40.144
country music-

292
00:09:40.384 --> 00:09:40.544
For sure

293
00:09:40.554 --> 00:09:44.493
... really cool influences. But Cuban music, and

294
00:09:44.524 --> 00:09:47.904
this is what... I'd heard, actually, some of these players before this, and I knew

295
00:09:47.964 --> 00:09:50.924
a little bit because of the connection with American jazz over the years.

296
00:09:51.164 --> 00:09:52.594
There's a deep connection there, isn't there?

297
00:09:52.594 --> 00:09:53.734
There's a deep connection and-

298
00:09:53.784 --> 00:09:54.624
To New Orleans, too.

299
00:09:54.804 --> 00:09:57.884
Yeah, to New Orleans. But

300
00:09:58.224 --> 00:10:02.004
there's something culturally magnetic about this

301
00:10:02.044 --> 00:10:05.104
music. So even if you don't speak Spanish and you're having to pore over the

302
00:10:05.164 --> 00:10:07.374
English, which I don't even usually do, I don't need that.

303
00:10:07.684 --> 00:10:08.094
The music-

304
00:10:08.194 --> 00:10:09.104
No, it's poetry, man

305
00:10:09.144 --> 00:10:09.304
... Yeah.

306
00:10:09.384 --> 00:10:10.244
Yeah, just let it happen.

307
00:10:10.304 --> 00:10:12.194
It's poetry, but there's such

308
00:10:13.884 --> 00:10:17.823
a non-adulterated vibe to this music.

309
00:10:17.844 --> 00:10:18.044
For sure.

310
00:10:18.104 --> 00:10:20.623
It's so authentic, and I think some people would be like, "Oh, this is

311
00:10:21.264 --> 00:10:23.123
whitewashed," or the tourist view of it.

312
00:10:23.404 --> 00:10:27.304
Maybe, but as I dug back into the story of this and how it came

313
00:10:27.324 --> 00:10:30.524
together, there was definitely some serendipity of how all these legendary

314
00:10:30.564 --> 00:10:33.604
musicians came, but many of them were forgotten.

315
00:10:33.964 --> 00:10:35.934
But a bunch of them didn't know each other. That's the crazy thing.

316
00:10:35.934 --> 00:10:36.424
That is kind of crazy.

317
00:10:36.684 --> 00:10:39.604
Because they were trying to make the story, and it was a little Hollywood or

318
00:10:39.644 --> 00:10:42.934
whatever. Like, "Oh, they'd all been lost and off the scene." A lot of them

319
00:10:42.964 --> 00:10:45.164
weren't. A bunch of them were still playing and touring.

320
00:10:45.204 --> 00:10:45.584
Yeah.

321
00:10:45.604 --> 00:10:48.704
But some of them were, like Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González hadn't been playing.

322
00:10:49.924 --> 00:10:53.544
But Compay Segundo had been playing, but he had

323
00:10:53.924 --> 00:10:54.474
fallen off the map before that.

324
00:10:54.484 --> 00:10:55.424
He had fallen off earlier.

325
00:10:55.474 --> 00:10:55.974
Earlier.

326
00:10:55.504 --> 00:10:58.234
In the '70s, he quit, but then he came back in the '80s and-

327
00:10:58.264 --> 00:11:01.544
But a bunch of them had never met, which is crazy because we think, "Oh, everybody

328
00:11:01.584 --> 00:11:02.364
in Havana..."

329
00:11:02.404 --> 00:11:02.484
Of course.

330
00:11:02.564 --> 00:11:05.234
No, some of them were from Santiago. It's a 15-hour drive.

331
00:11:05.384 --> 00:11:07.484
Also, it sounds like they've been playing together for 50 years.

332
00:11:07.564 --> 00:11:07.944
I know.

333
00:11:07.964 --> 00:11:10.544
You know what I mean? Also, by the way, the production on this album is so

334
00:11:10.564 --> 00:11:11.144
beautiful.

335
00:11:11.154 --> 00:11:11.654
Shout-out.

336
00:11:11.184 --> 00:11:13.064
This is really rich production.

337
00:11:13.104 --> 00:11:15.944
Shout-out to Nick and Ryan, the whole gang, and the-

338
00:11:16.064 --> 00:11:16.284
The sound-

339
00:11:16.344 --> 00:11:17.004
... local engineers

340
00:11:17.014 --> 00:11:18.174
... the sound of the bass-

341
00:11:18.744 --> 00:11:18.874
So great

342
00:11:18.874 --> 00:11:20.884
... the sound of the percussion, the sound of the guitars-

343
00:11:21.104 --> 00:11:21.244
Yeah

344
00:11:21.254 --> 00:11:23.564
... the sound of the voices is so gorgeous.

345
00:11:24.004 --> 00:11:27.364
You could hear the room around the percussion, which I love so much whenever

346
00:11:27.424 --> 00:11:29.384
there's heavy percussion on albums.

347
00:11:29.584 --> 00:11:31.263
And this is percussion driven as opposed to...

348
00:11:31.384 --> 00:11:32.054
There's a little bit of drum-

349
00:11:32.144 --> 00:11:32.154
Man

350
00:11:32.184 --> 00:11:35.334
... set later, but it's percussion. And you're right, the sound of it.

351
00:11:35.644 --> 00:11:39.244
So EGREM, Egrem Studio, which was Pinard.

352
00:11:39.764 --> 00:11:43.676
I don't know how you say that, but that was, I remember-Reading legendary stuff

353
00:11:43.756 --> 00:11:47.166
about this studio, because that was before the revolution, Nat King Cole and Dizzy

354
00:11:47.196 --> 00:11:50.056
Gillespie, all the American musicians would go down and record there.

355
00:11:50.076 --> 00:11:52.256
But they've kind of preserved it, I believe, to this day.

356
00:11:52.266 --> 00:11:52.556
Yeah.

357
00:11:52.656 --> 00:11:56.586
Analog, old school, great sound. I mean, it matters,

358
00:11:56.636 --> 00:11:58.586
right? It matters. You get the legends together.

359
00:11:58.596 --> 00:12:01.536
They had a problem with the tape machine the first day, a little serendipity.

360
00:12:01.556 --> 00:12:01.816
Yeah.

361
00:12:01.856 --> 00:12:04.976
So they had to fix it, so all the musicians had to mingle and get to know each

362
00:12:05.016 --> 00:12:05.166
other better.

363
00:12:05.176 --> 00:12:07.696
Well, let's go just a little bit before this all, Peter.

364
00:12:07.706 --> 00:12:08.206
Yeah.

365
00:12:07.716 --> 00:12:09.896
So, the sort of story of the album is actually incredible.

366
00:12:09.966 --> 00:12:13.916
The whole thing was an accident. In '96, Nick Gold brought Ry Cooder to Havana

367
00:12:13.976 --> 00:12:17.585
to record an experimental fusion album with West African musicians from

368
00:12:17.596 --> 00:12:20.736
Mali and Cuban trova players. And when

369
00:12:21.776 --> 00:12:24.816
Cooder arrived, the African musicians were nowhere to be found because their visas

370
00:12:24.896 --> 00:12:28.596
hadn't come through. So Cuban band leader, Juan de

371
00:12:28.656 --> 00:12:32.176
Marcos González, instead rounded up a group of veteran Cuban

372
00:12:32.216 --> 00:12:36.056
musicians and recorded what would become one of the most unlikely crossover albums

373
00:12:36.096 --> 00:12:37.796
of the 20th century. And it really is.

374
00:12:37.836 --> 00:12:40.596
And the fact that it was such a huge hit is just so mind-boggling.

375
00:12:40.756 --> 00:12:40.896
Yeah.

376
00:12:40.996 --> 00:12:44.266
But it really is a testament to, A, the music of that island-

377
00:12:44.436 --> 00:12:44.516
Yeah

378
00:12:44.676 --> 00:12:46.416
... which is so deep and so rich.

379
00:12:46.676 --> 00:12:46.736
Yeah.

380
00:12:46.776 --> 00:12:47.496
And, B-

381
00:12:47.606 --> 00:12:50.866
Just the tapestry of culture and connection and

382
00:12:50.956 --> 00:12:53.736
excellence in terms of you hear everybody-

383
00:12:53.776 --> 00:12:54.206
You can-

384
00:12:54.216 --> 00:12:56.995
It's known, especially for pianists, but for every instrument of the highest level

385
00:12:57.006 --> 00:12:57.506
of musical-

386
00:12:57.076 --> 00:12:58.215
Excellence is a great word

387
00:12:58.236 --> 00:12:58.886
... education.

388
00:12:58.996 --> 00:12:59.006
Yeah.

389
00:12:59.036 --> 00:13:00.616
So you get all these elements that come together.

390
00:13:00.636 --> 00:13:04.416
But then there's also, you can feel the way people are dressed and the

391
00:13:04.536 --> 00:13:04.636
way-

392
00:13:04.676 --> 00:13:04.686
Yeah

393
00:13:04.686 --> 00:13:06.056
... this food smells. You know what I mean?

394
00:13:06.106 --> 00:13:06.606
Yeah.

395
00:13:06.756 --> 00:13:06.956
It's-

396
00:13:07.356 --> 00:13:08.536
Is it hot and humid? It feels like it.

397
00:13:08.636 --> 00:13:09.116
It should be.

398
00:13:09.516 --> 00:13:13.016
And actually, shout out Nick Gold. So this was, I was trying to remember the name.

399
00:13:13.036 --> 00:13:14.216
It was World Circuit

400
00:13:15.076 --> 00:13:18.876
something, was the name. This was not a major label thing that was planning to sell

401
00:13:18.916 --> 00:13:19.876
eight million copies.

402
00:13:19.886 --> 00:13:20.386
No.

403
00:13:19.896 --> 00:13:22.086
And I love when these stories, this is an indie label.

404
00:13:22.176 --> 00:13:25.556
I think they're bought up or it's whatever, UMG or something now.

405
00:13:25.576 --> 00:13:28.516
But this was not a slam dunk to be eight. I mean, how could it be?

406
00:13:28.546 --> 00:13:29.046
No.

407
00:13:28.556 --> 00:13:29.576
First of all, they didn't even plan it.

408
00:13:29.636 --> 00:13:32.896
Oh, and they also made three records in this same couple of weeks.

409
00:13:32.936 --> 00:13:34.816
Oh yeah, there's the Rubén González album.

410
00:13:34.966 --> 00:13:36.296
Three incredible. Introducing Rubén González.

411
00:13:36.576 --> 00:13:37.426
Hilarious because he was like 80 years old.

412
00:13:37.426 --> 00:13:41.376
And I told him, "A Toda Cuba Le Gusta," which is with Juan de Marcos

413
00:13:41.396 --> 00:13:44.316
and the Afro Cuban All-Stars, who I've seen many times perform.

414
00:13:44.356 --> 00:13:46.796
They're incredible, were still touring up until a couple of years ago.

415
00:13:46.806 --> 00:13:47.116
Right.

416
00:13:47.876 --> 00:13:50.616
So, what they did was amazing, and shout out to

417
00:13:51.516 --> 00:13:54.096
do that. And I love it when-- And look,

418
00:13:55.176 --> 00:13:57.716
shoot me down and call me an optimist. Call me, what was it?

419
00:13:57.776 --> 00:13:59.276
Rose-colored glasses if you want, Adam.

420
00:13:59.296 --> 00:13:59.376
Sure.

421
00:13:59.456 --> 00:14:00.616
You're my friend. Be honest with me.

422
00:14:01.056 --> 00:14:01.065
Sure. Yeah.

423
00:14:01.076 --> 00:14:04.886
But I think that this record became a phenomenon because

424
00:14:04.936 --> 00:14:07.036
it's so darn good.

425
00:14:07.136 --> 00:14:07.436
Of course.

426
00:14:07.476 --> 00:14:08.176
So great.

427
00:14:08.306 --> 00:14:09.196
Some of the best music ever.

428
00:14:09.576 --> 00:14:10.676
Yeah, but that doesn't always happen.

429
00:14:10.716 --> 00:14:14.116
Sometimes it's like the story or people see it at Starbucks and the p**a m***e

430
00:14:14.336 --> 00:14:14.416
thing-

431
00:14:14.476 --> 00:14:14.756
I mean-

432
00:14:14.846 --> 00:14:17.896
... like, "Oh, I want to get this. Maybe we'll go to Cuba someday if they ever open

433
00:14:17.956 --> 00:14:18.526
up again, honey."

434
00:14:18.556 --> 00:14:22.136
To be fair, though, the name of the album, Buena Vista Social Club.

435
00:14:22.396 --> 00:14:22.536
Yeah.

436
00:14:22.576 --> 00:14:26.396
The cover and the sound of the music captures you.

437
00:14:26.536 --> 00:14:26.976
Yeah, it does.

438
00:14:26.986 --> 00:14:27.696
It does capture you.

439
00:14:27.776 --> 00:14:28.796
It's magnetic, man.

440
00:14:29.096 --> 00:14:29.686
Yeah, it does.

441
00:14:29.736 --> 00:14:30.046
And-

442
00:14:30.416 --> 00:14:32.276
They did a great job at all that, by the way.

443
00:14:32.456 --> 00:14:32.696
Yeah.

444
00:14:32.736 --> 00:14:34.216
And that's important.

445
00:14:34.416 --> 00:14:34.976
It's important.

446
00:14:35.176 --> 00:14:37.116
Agreed. Let's do go to the next track, which is-

447
00:14:37.176 --> 00:14:37.326
Please play

448
00:14:37.326 --> 00:14:38.336
... "De Camino a la Vereda."

449
00:14:38.656 --> 00:14:40.336
Great music and albums and sound is important.

450
00:14:40.356 --> 00:14:43.796
Do I sound like Peggy Hill when I say "De Camino a la Vereda?"

451
00:14:44.736 --> 00:14:45.936
A young Peggy Hill.

452
00:14:47.256 --> 00:14:48.876
Oh. Woo. We're going out of the country again.

453
00:14:50.256 --> 00:14:51.396
Man, how do you just

454
00:14:52.296 --> 00:14:53.396
fall into vibe?

455
00:14:54.976 --> 00:14:59.236
Can

456
00:14:59.256 --> 00:15:00.976
we start with the chorus? Nothing wrong with that.

457
00:15:02.616 --> 00:15:06.376
Listen, friend, don't stray from the

458
00:15:06.476 --> 00:15:06.816
path.

459
00:15:07.956 --> 00:15:09.806
Ibrahim Ferrer. Composition. This is

460
00:15:09.836 --> 00:15:13.056
another

461
00:15:13.596 --> 00:15:30.156
song.

462
00:15:31.036 --> 00:15:32.856
I remember seeing Ibrahim do this live.

463
00:15:34.956 --> 00:15:36.306
He stretches out on this song, too, but...

464
00:15:36.696 --> 00:15:37.516
What a voice, man.

465
00:15:38.736 --> 00:15:40.976
Man, his rhythmic continuation.

466
00:15:41.896 --> 00:15:42.936
Listen to that bass, too.

467
00:15:43.976 --> 00:15:44.236
Man,

468
00:15:45.056 --> 00:15:47.016
rock solid. Big round of Cuba.

469
00:15:49.376 --> 00:15:51.696
Come on. Like I said, it was a challenge, but he's unbelievable.

470
00:15:52.436 --> 00:15:53.176
"Cachaito," right?

471
00:15:53.276 --> 00:15:53.576
Yeah.

472
00:15:55.876 --> 00:15:56.316
Amazing.

473
00:15:56.916 --> 00:15:58.396
So great. So yeah, that's written by...

474
00:15:59.016 --> 00:16:02.796
And that means on the path or on the way to the path or stay on the path.

475
00:16:04.056 --> 00:16:07.476
And Ibrahim Ferrer was a

476
00:16:07.496 --> 00:16:11.266
devotee to the Santería religion, which has

477
00:16:11.576 --> 00:16:14.796
a big presence in the Caribbean and Cuba, and was very--

478
00:16:15.056 --> 00:16:17.696
This one is not as much about the racy lyrics.

479
00:16:17.726 --> 00:16:20.756
And so this is a little stay on the path, do the right thing.

480
00:16:20.856 --> 00:16:22.976
Got a little bit of overtones of that in the lyrics.

481
00:16:23.296 --> 00:16:24.376
Can I take you back to the city?

482
00:16:24.816 --> 00:16:24.916
Please.

483
00:16:24.956 --> 00:16:26.636
Can I take you back to Havana?

484
00:16:26.716 --> 00:16:27.076
Oh my God.

485
00:16:27.196 --> 00:16:29.396
With El Cuarto de Tula.

486
00:16:32.376 --> 00:16:32.896
Oh, this is

487
00:16:33.896 --> 00:16:36.776
Manuel. Trumpet. Oh, killing it on this record.

488
00:16:38.916 --> 00:16:42.216
Listen to that bass line.

489
00:16:47.976 --> 00:16:50.476
Yeah. Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal.

490
00:16:51.616 --> 00:16:57.256
This

491
00:16:57.276 --> 00:16:58.136
is also a

492
00:17:00.276 --> 00:17:04.237
song, but it's descarga, which is the Cuban jam style.

493
00:17:04.556 --> 00:17:05.656
That's where that sound... Yeah.

494
00:17:06.916 --> 00:17:08.277
I don't do nearly enough- ...

495
00:17:09.896 --> 00:17:11.435
nearly enough sirens in my writing.

496
00:17:11.497 --> 00:17:12.806
I know. Oh. Oh,

497
00:17:21.497 --> 00:17:24.576
these lyrics are great, the translation. It's Chula's bedroom.

498
00:17:24.596 --> 00:17:27.956
It's gone up in flames. She fell asleep and didn't blow out the candle.

499
00:17:34.536 --> 00:17:39.856
Oh.

500
00:17:40.376 --> 00:17:40.496
Woo.

501
00:17:41.036 --> 00:17:44.676
I know. It's crazy, right?

502
00:17:44.776 --> 00:17:44.796
I

503
00:17:46.376 --> 00:17:48.916
think that's Eliades Ochoa.

504
00:17:49.096 --> 00:17:49.576
Eliades,

505
00:17:50.486 --> 00:17:50.986
yeah.

506
00:17:50.656 --> 00:17:53.766
Yeah.Man, do you hear the

507
00:17:53.826 --> 00:17:55.286
timbales in between?

508
00:17:58.606 --> 00:18:01.586
Julian Sanchez, 13 years old, the timbales.

509
00:18:01.666 --> 00:18:01.966
No way.

510
00:18:02.006 --> 00:18:03.426
And apparently, they were in the studio.

511
00:18:03.666 --> 00:18:05.766
He'd already done a bunch of sessions and tours and stuff.

512
00:18:07.666 --> 00:18:09.186
I mean, some of the hip is percussion.

513
00:18:09.706 --> 00:18:10.426
Damn. So he's-

514
00:18:15.646 --> 00:18:16.026
Man.

515
00:18:16.486 --> 00:18:19.886
I don't know if people who aren't super familiar with Cuban music know that

516
00:18:20.906 --> 00:18:24.706
their reputation of instrumentalists is at the top of the

517
00:18:24.745 --> 00:18:25.486
heap of the world.

518
00:18:25.546 --> 00:18:25.856
Yeah.

519
00:18:25.906 --> 00:18:27.626
The piano reputation of this country-

520
00:18:27.766 --> 00:18:27.886
Yeah

521
00:18:27.986 --> 00:18:28.806
... is insane.

522
00:18:28.946 --> 00:18:32.266
So before this, early '90s actually, I got a chance to

523
00:18:32.926 --> 00:18:36.326
meet and hang with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who's one of the greatest jazz pianists-

524
00:18:36.346 --> 00:18:38.026
Greatest jazz piano alive. Yeah

525
00:18:38.066 --> 00:18:41.026
... yeah, from Cuba, and that's when I first got it.

526
00:18:41.086 --> 00:18:41.146
I'd

527
00:18:42.026 --> 00:18:42.546
heard

528
00:18:44.666 --> 00:18:47.526
Chucho Valdés and his father and a lot of these great pianists, but that was the

529
00:18:47.586 --> 00:18:50.746
first time I'd been around a Cuban pianist that was just like...

530
00:18:50.786 --> 00:18:53.546
I mean, because he's classical jazz, Cuban stuff.

531
00:18:53.606 --> 00:18:53.886
Yeah.

532
00:18:53.916 --> 00:18:56.176
And he's definitely more, I mean, he can play all this-

533
00:18:56.226 --> 00:18:56.736
When I got to The New School in New York

534
00:18:56.746 --> 00:18:57.846
... but I was just shocked.

535
00:18:58.026 --> 00:19:01.266
When I got to The New School in New York, there was this pianist named Manuel

536
00:19:01.306 --> 00:19:02.346
Valera, who-

537
00:19:02.466 --> 00:19:03.146
Oh, yeah. I remember. Yeah

538
00:19:03.386 --> 00:19:07.166
... and I was like, "Oh, damn. What's going on here?"

539
00:19:07.406 --> 00:19:07.586
Yeah.

540
00:19:07.866 --> 00:19:11.846
It's crazy. But so good. Also, Pete, I

541
00:19:11.866 --> 00:19:15.586
don't know if you know this, but this podcast is brought to you by Open Studio

542
00:19:15.666 --> 00:19:16.026
Jazz.

543
00:19:16.106 --> 00:19:16.586
Never heard of it.

544
00:19:16.686 --> 00:19:20.546
Go to openstudiojazz.com/yhi. And I want to say,

545
00:19:20.726 --> 00:19:21.746
speaking of Cuban pianists-

546
00:19:21.806 --> 00:19:22.016
Oh, man

547
00:19:22.016 --> 00:19:25.946
... we just, a couple weeks ago, had in the studio to record a new course on

548
00:19:25.966 --> 00:19:28.026
Cuban music and Cuban piano specifically-

549
00:19:28.596 --> 00:19:29.096
Yes

550
00:19:28.596 --> 00:19:29.646
... Harold López-Nussa.

551
00:19:29.946 --> 00:19:30.186
Yeah.

552
00:19:30.246 --> 00:19:32.546
Incredible Cuban pianist, and his brother, Ruy.

553
00:19:32.846 --> 00:19:33.876
Yeah. Incredible drummer.

554
00:19:34.026 --> 00:19:36.026
And they were in here and tore it up.

555
00:19:36.386 --> 00:19:36.546
Man-

556
00:19:36.626 --> 00:19:37.296
I can't wait to take that course

557
00:19:37.296 --> 00:19:38.866
... all this stuff about on tunos.

558
00:19:39.086 --> 00:19:39.166
Yeah.

559
00:19:39.266 --> 00:19:40.366
Incredible course.

560
00:19:40.446 --> 00:19:42.616
He actually covers one of the songs from this-

561
00:19:42.726 --> 00:19:42.976
I know

562
00:19:42.976 --> 00:19:43.366
... in the course.

563
00:19:43.446 --> 00:19:44.276
I know. It's amazing.

564
00:19:44.286 --> 00:19:44.606
It's so cool.

565
00:19:44.646 --> 00:19:45.146
It's amazing.

566
00:19:45.166 --> 00:19:45.226
Yeah.

567
00:19:45.246 --> 00:19:49.066
So go to openstudiojazz.com/yhi to sign up and become a

568
00:19:49.146 --> 00:19:51.926
member. Start your free 14-day trial at

569
00:19:52.026 --> 00:19:55.966
openstudiojazz.com/yhi. Let's

570
00:19:55.986 --> 00:19:56.626
get back to the show.

571
00:19:56.766 --> 00:19:59.626
Okay. So we can move on to the next song, but I just want to say, we're going to

572
00:19:59.666 --> 00:20:00.646
come back to, because

573
00:20:01.666 --> 00:20:03.206
I have the feeling we're going to be coming back to-

574
00:20:03.306 --> 00:20:03.366
To

575
00:20:03.526 --> 00:20:07.006
... "El Cuarto de Tula" for some of our categories later.

576
00:20:07.266 --> 00:20:07.426
Okay.

577
00:20:07.446 --> 00:20:07.786
We'll do that.

578
00:20:07.866 --> 00:20:10.626
Okay. Next up is "Pueblo Nuevo."

579
00:20:12.306 --> 00:20:12.885
Danzón.

580
00:20:16.766 --> 00:20:19.426
And this is by Israel López. Cachao on the basses.

581
00:20:24.486 --> 00:20:25.006
It's so cool.

582
00:20:28.626 --> 00:20:29.486
That picture.

583
00:20:31.026 --> 00:20:31.726
Oh, I love it.

584
00:20:33.906 --> 00:20:35.276
Danzón. Oh.

585
00:20:47.686 --> 00:20:49.466
So beautiful, Rubén González's touch,

586
00:20:50.726 --> 00:20:52.646
for someone who hadn't played piano for decades.

587
00:20:52.686 --> 00:20:56.566
I know. Yeah, so he had arthritis, apparently, didn't have a piano, and kind

588
00:20:56.606 --> 00:20:59.816
of just like that part is done, and when they invite him to this, he's like, "Let

589
00:20:59.846 --> 00:21:03.606
me try it." And it just was so, oh. Man,

590
00:21:03.866 --> 00:21:07.556
he has chops in the jazz stuff. Oh, and I love when they go into this,

591
00:21:07.966 --> 00:21:11.226
we've got to play it, Lisa, they go to the mambo, kind of mambo-esque groove.

592
00:21:11.966 --> 00:21:12.846
Is that mambo? Yeah.

593
00:21:14.746 --> 00:21:18.665
Oh, a little minor with a major seventh. Maybe six-nine.

594
00:21:19.466 --> 00:21:19.825
Oh.

595
00:21:30.976 --> 00:21:31.786
Hold on.

596
00:21:31.846 --> 00:21:31.986
Yeah.

597
00:21:32.306 --> 00:21:32.316
Yeah.

598
00:21:32.326 --> 00:21:35.506
Man, this is like you've walked into the greatest hotel lobby ever.

599
00:21:35.906 --> 00:21:36.686
Literally greatest.

600
00:21:37.826 --> 00:21:38.436
I don't know why I said that.

601
00:21:38.446 --> 00:21:39.346
You always use that.

602
00:21:39.415 --> 00:21:42.186
Man, I would love, I would just be like, "Thank you." I would just sit down.

603
00:21:42.246 --> 00:21:43.326
I would get on the ground and just-

604
00:21:43.486 --> 00:21:45.446
You spent a lot of your life in hotel lobbies, haven't you?

605
00:21:45.646 --> 00:21:45.866
I used to.

606
00:21:45.966 --> 00:21:46.446
Yeah.

607
00:21:46.506 --> 00:21:49.246
But we've got to keep playing. I know we've got to go places, but oh.

608
00:21:50.946 --> 00:21:51.086
Oh, man.

609
00:21:51.306 --> 00:21:51.885
We've got to keep going.

610
00:21:51.946 --> 00:21:52.206
Oh, sorry.

611
00:21:52.246 --> 00:21:53.526
We've got to keep going. What are you doing?

612
00:21:56.786 --> 00:21:59.446
Oh, that's what I'm saying, man, Monk.

613
00:22:00.606 --> 00:22:01.766
That influence.

614
00:22:11.265 --> 00:22:14.886
I

615
00:22:14.896 --> 00:22:23.816
think

616
00:22:24.046 --> 00:22:24.056
they go-

617
00:22:25.066 --> 00:22:28.916
It's so funny, these danzónes too, there's such a, it feels

618
00:22:28.966 --> 00:22:29.386
so-

619
00:22:32.386 --> 00:22:32.506
Oh

620
00:22:32.826 --> 00:22:34.686
... such a cousin to Argentine tango.

621
00:22:34.706 --> 00:22:37.126
I played in a lot of tango bands around here in St. Louis.

622
00:22:37.366 --> 00:22:37.526
Right.

623
00:22:37.926 --> 00:22:38.566
Until this part.

624
00:22:38.706 --> 00:22:38.966
Yeah.

625
00:22:39.866 --> 00:22:42.266
Oh. Man, they just slide into it.

626
00:22:49.146 --> 00:22:49.406
Woo.

627
00:22:49.626 --> 00:22:50.326
Oh, man.

628
00:22:51.386 --> 00:22:53.446
The taste-making of this piano player.

629
00:22:56.006 --> 00:22:58.806
Man, I heard him do this live a couple times right in this band, but I was like...

630
00:22:59.106 --> 00:22:59.266
Sorry.

631
00:23:00.046 --> 00:23:01.166
Throwing s**t all around here?

632
00:23:01.626 --> 00:23:03.406
But to slide in and out of the time,

633
00:23:04.346 --> 00:23:05.826
a little blues, a little bebop there.

634
00:23:05.966 --> 00:23:06.246
I mean-

635
00:23:09.706 --> 00:23:10.446
Oh

636
00:23:11.626 --> 00:23:14.856
... this could be so self-indulgent by a lesser pianist,

637
00:23:15.386 --> 00:23:16.646
but with Rubén, it's just

638
00:23:18.726 --> 00:23:19.206
thrilling.

639
00:23:20.346 --> 00:23:21.266
Oh, his dynamics.

640
00:23:22.646 --> 00:23:23.426
But this groove,

641
00:23:24.506 --> 00:23:26.896
and here he's just dancing on top of it. Man.

642
00:23:29.086 --> 00:23:30.406
Man, I could, dude.

643
00:23:31.326 --> 00:23:32.666
Oh. This has everything.

644
00:23:32.686 --> 00:23:33.026
How are you-

645
00:23:33.226 --> 00:23:34.056
This checks all my boxes

646
00:23:34.066 --> 00:23:36.096
... how are you feeling? So after last week's

647
00:23:37.386 --> 00:23:38.126
Money Jungle-

648
00:23:38.966 --> 00:23:38.976
Mm

649
00:23:38.976 --> 00:23:41.506
... talking about out of tune pianos, you seem to be okay with this one.

650
00:23:41.606 --> 00:23:44.626
Because it's so well... That was an out of tune piano that was badly recorded.

651
00:23:44.666 --> 00:23:45.186
True. That's true.

652
00:23:45.206 --> 00:23:46.506
It played very well.

653
00:23:46.516 --> 00:23:47.056
This is killing.

654
00:23:47.206 --> 00:23:47.426
Yeah.

655
00:23:49.646 --> 00:23:50.766
All right. We're going to save a little bit of this.

656
00:23:50.866 --> 00:23:54.306
And it kind of fits in, I'm not saying they did it on purpose, but it fits in with

657
00:23:54.386 --> 00:23:55.546
some of those,

658
00:23:56.506 --> 00:23:59.426
what are those guitars called? Not the lute one. There's another one.

659
00:23:59.466 --> 00:24:03.446
But the Santiago guitars that they played on here

660
00:24:03.926 --> 00:24:07.800
and-Barbarito we're going to hear. Barbarito Torres is killing it.

661
00:24:07.810 --> 00:24:11.640
But it's like they have some of those double strings, like the G and the D.

662
00:24:11.730 --> 00:24:15.430
It'll be six or eight strings, and then they double certain ones, and we get that

663
00:24:15.470 --> 00:24:18.690
sound. And those strings would always, like you just heard it there, like a little

664
00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:19.810
bit out of tune with each other.

665
00:24:19.930 --> 00:24:20.050
Yeah.

666
00:24:20.230 --> 00:24:22.500
I mean, that was like that part of that vibe.

667
00:24:22.510 --> 00:24:23.850
It's a rub. It works.

668
00:24:23.990 --> 00:24:24.360
Oh, man.

669
00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:24.940
Yeah.

670
00:24:24.450 --> 00:24:26.660
And so for me, the piano here is just...

671
00:24:26.710 --> 00:24:28.840
Next up is "Dos Gardenias," this hidden item.

672
00:24:28.870 --> 00:24:30.350
Oh, this is a big hit on you.

673
00:24:30.510 --> 00:24:31.710
This is good. This might be

674
00:24:32.650 --> 00:24:33.310
my desert island.

675
00:24:34.170 --> 00:24:36.910
This is one of the greatest, simplest trumpet intros ever.

676
00:24:37.050 --> 00:24:38.630
I'm still undecided on this.

677
00:24:40.970 --> 00:24:44.860
Oh, this is in E

678
00:24:44.870 --> 00:24:46.410
flat, I think.

679
00:24:46.530 --> 00:24:46.730
What?

680
00:24:46.950 --> 00:24:48.540
Yes. I think this is E flat.

681
00:24:48.540 --> 00:24:49.430
"Dos Gardenias."

682
00:24:50.670 --> 00:24:53.750
This is a bolero, of course.

683
00:24:54.130 --> 00:24:56.330
Oh.

684
00:24:56.430 --> 00:24:59.790
Rubén González

685
00:25:00.750 --> 00:25:02.110
all over this too.

686
00:25:03.130 --> 00:25:07.110
Los

687
00:25:07.170 --> 00:25:09.690
Gardenias, kind of like.

688
00:25:11.090 --> 00:25:11.390
Man,

689
00:25:12.790 --> 00:25:15.150
Ibrahim's harmonic intuition, ooh.

690
00:25:16.710 --> 00:25:17.170
Oh, man. There's

691
00:25:19.510 --> 00:25:21.090
nothing happening that's not right.

692
00:25:22.750 --> 00:25:26.730
And although, as we've said several times how bad my Spanish is-

693
00:25:26.770 --> 00:25:26.890
Yeah

694
00:25:27.150 --> 00:25:27.730
... I somehow

695
00:25:28.590 --> 00:25:30.230
know exactly what this song is about.

696
00:25:30.410 --> 00:25:30.690
Right.

697
00:25:30.730 --> 00:25:31.210
You know what I mean?

698
00:25:31.340 --> 00:25:34.010
"Two gardenias for you."

699
00:25:34.170 --> 00:25:35.940
Well, yeah. But also just the way that he's-

700
00:25:36.190 --> 00:25:36.660
Oh, so amazing

701
00:25:36.660 --> 00:25:37.250
... singing it.

702
00:25:37.390 --> 00:25:37.490
Yeah.

703
00:25:37.610 --> 00:25:38.530
I know what's going on.

704
00:25:38.570 --> 00:25:38.830
Yeah.

705
00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:40.110
We all do.

706
00:25:40.770 --> 00:25:41.969
Oh. Man,

707
00:25:46.810 --> 00:25:48.970
some of the greatest instrumental comping.

708
00:25:50.050 --> 00:25:51.740
Manuel. Man,

709
00:25:53.510 --> 00:25:53.520
it's

710
00:25:53.520 --> 00:26:05.520
magical.

711
00:26:07.210 --> 00:26:08.170
"Dos Gardenias,"

712
00:26:09.890 --> 00:26:10.410
amazing.

713
00:26:10.530 --> 00:26:10.730
Yeah.

714
00:26:10.890 --> 00:26:11.220
Amazing.

715
00:26:11.250 --> 00:26:11.650
Tasty.

716
00:26:11.950 --> 00:26:12.310
Next up,

717
00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:14.130
"Y Tu Que Has

718
00:26:15.070 --> 00:26:16.610
Hecho?" How would you say that?

719
00:26:16.930 --> 00:26:20.170
What are we on now? "Y Tu Que Has Hecho?"

720
00:26:20.350 --> 00:26:20.610
Thank you.

721
00:26:20.690 --> 00:26:20.929
Yes.

722
00:26:24.530 --> 00:26:26.710
Another bolero.

723
00:26:28.760 --> 00:26:30.350
This is an old song from the '30s.

724
00:26:32.550 --> 00:26:34.370
Yes, we in Delta Trading.

725
00:26:37.610 --> 00:26:47.250
Compay

726
00:26:47.310 --> 00:26:48.679
Segundo and Elián Solís.

727
00:26:49.350 --> 00:26:52.070
Ooh.

728
00:26:53.090 --> 00:26:54.870
Things like shift. That shift happens.

729
00:26:55.250 --> 00:26:56.010
Oh.

730
00:26:56.090 --> 00:26:57.070
Man, he's so...

731
00:26:58.030 --> 00:27:01.790
I love stuff that's so simple, like you see this written out, and you try to play

732
00:27:01.830 --> 00:27:03.710
it, and you're like, "Man, you better be all you."

733
00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:07.610
And the effortless flow that they can hit.

734
00:27:22.790 --> 00:27:25.370
So Compay Segundo is actually playing an armonico,

735
00:27:26.310 --> 00:27:30.050
which is a small guitar with seven metal strings with a third double strung,

736
00:27:30.500 --> 00:27:31.450
which he invented-

737
00:27:31.790 --> 00:27:32.510
Compay invented that

738
00:27:32.550 --> 00:27:35.990
... yeah, and built the first one. He wanted to combine the

739
00:27:36.030 --> 00:27:38.430
characteristics of the tres. That's the other one.

740
00:27:38.470 --> 00:27:40.290
The tres, like the Cuban guitar-

741
00:27:40.310 --> 00:27:40.640
Oh, yeah

742
00:27:40.870 --> 00:27:43.530
... that's got some connection with West Africa and Spain.

743
00:27:44.090 --> 00:27:46.640
But guess when he invented this instrument?

744
00:27:47.470 --> 00:27:47.480
19-

745
00:27:47.490 --> 00:27:50.090
So this was in 1996, the record was made.

746
00:27:50.150 --> 00:27:51.350
Can I legit guess?

747
00:27:51.750 --> 00:27:51.890
Yeah.

748
00:27:52.410 --> 00:27:53.210
1955.

749
00:27:54.030 --> 00:27:57.950
Well, it was a little older, so they're not sure exactly, but it was in the 1920s.

750
00:27:57.990 --> 00:27:58.550
Oh, wow.

751
00:27:59.210 --> 00:28:01.140
So, that's the cultural connection

752
00:28:01.950 --> 00:28:05.630
going back with this record, that it still sounds so

753
00:28:05.650 --> 00:28:08.520
vibrant. He invented the damn thing. The '20s.

754
00:28:09.150 --> 00:28:11.000
What were you doing in the '20s? We're in the '20s now.

755
00:28:11.050 --> 00:28:12.730
We're in the '20s. I was going to say, what am I doing?

756
00:28:12.770 --> 00:28:14.310
I'm doing a podcast in the '20s.

757
00:28:14.320 --> 00:28:15.330
Oh, come on, man.

758
00:28:15.610 --> 00:28:16.970
Next up is "Veinte Años."

759
00:28:17.030 --> 00:28:17.630
That's culture.

760
00:28:17.910 --> 00:28:18.390
That's culture.

761
00:28:19.970 --> 00:28:20.730
So is this, Pete.

762
00:28:20.890 --> 00:28:22.230
So it is. This whole thing is.

763
00:28:22.310 --> 00:28:23.310
Podcast culture, buddy.

764
00:28:25.230 --> 00:28:25.510
Killing it.

765
00:28:25.750 --> 00:28:27.550
Absolutely killing it.

766
00:28:31.390 --> 00:28:31.520
Mm.

767
00:28:34.790 --> 00:28:36.450
So this is a string, another bolero

768
00:28:37.430 --> 00:28:38.770
form and vibe.

769
00:28:45.010 --> 00:28:46.850
You know, "Veinte Años," 20 years.

770
00:28:48.130 --> 00:28:49.250
20-year itch, ever heard of it?

771
00:28:49.610 --> 00:28:49.950
Thank you.

772
00:28:50.030 --> 00:28:50.330
Yeah,

773
00:28:50.410 --> 00:29:01.010
this

774
00:29:01.020 --> 00:29:03.350
is Omara Portuondo. I'm going to tell my Omara story.

775
00:29:03.410 --> 00:29:04.350
She's a beautiful

776
00:29:05.190 --> 00:29:06.830
human. I mean, you hear it.

777
00:29:10.090 --> 00:29:12.190
I heard her and Ibrahim sing this together live.

778
00:29:12.650 --> 00:29:12.850
Really?

779
00:29:13.030 --> 00:29:13.250
Yeah.

780
00:29:13.370 --> 00:29:14.430
Oh, man. Funny.

781
00:29:20.410 --> 00:29:20.810
She was

782
00:29:21.850 --> 00:29:25.010
always performing, though, right? She was a little younger than everybody else.

783
00:29:25.070 --> 00:29:25.370
Is that right?

784
00:29:25.430 --> 00:29:26.210
She was a little, yeah.

785
00:29:27.710 --> 00:29:30.810
She was actually in the recording studio doing another album downstairs.

786
00:29:30.850 --> 00:29:31.289
Oh, no way.

787
00:29:31.330 --> 00:29:35.250
Yeah, at EGREM in Cuba, and then she came

788
00:29:35.270 --> 00:29:37.590
out, and she's like, "Oh, I heard you might be looking for a vocalist or

789
00:29:37.670 --> 00:29:37.750
something."

790
00:29:37.770 --> 00:29:40.970
Can we just say that it's so great that there's so much happenstance-

791
00:29:41.050 --> 00:29:41.430
I know

792
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:43.020
... involved in making this masterpiece.

793
00:29:43.110 --> 00:29:43.290
Yeah.

794
00:29:43.310 --> 00:29:44.590
And that happens sometimes, right?

795
00:29:44.610 --> 00:29:48.510
You can plan and plan, but sometimes it's like, man, let the universe do

796
00:29:48.530 --> 00:29:49.030
its thing.

797
00:29:49.210 --> 00:29:49.370
Yeah.

798
00:29:49.450 --> 00:29:49.710
You know?

799
00:29:49.990 --> 00:29:51.510
So Omara was

800
00:29:52.530 --> 00:29:56.410
with the Buena Vis- actually, I think it was Afro Cuban All Stars was

801
00:29:56.450 --> 00:30:00.170
officially called at Symphony Hall, Symphony Center in Chicago, and this

802
00:30:00.230 --> 00:30:01.990
was eight or nine years ago.

803
00:30:03.330 --> 00:30:07.278
My wife Kelly, my partner-She and I were up in Chicago celebrating

804
00:30:07.298 --> 00:30:10.188
our 20th anniversary, and we had tickets.

805
00:30:10.538 --> 00:30:14.398
I don't know if I surprised her, but we had tickets to go see them at Orchestra

806
00:30:14.408 --> 00:30:17.958
Hall, and Omara heard that I was there and that it was our 20th anniversary.

807
00:30:18.038 --> 00:30:18.368
No way.

808
00:30:18.398 --> 00:30:22.248
Because we have a mutual friend. I knew her a little bit, and I'd met her before.

809
00:30:22.838 --> 00:30:26.548
And our mutual friend who was on the tour mentioned, he's like, "Oh, Peter's here."

810
00:30:26.658 --> 00:30:30.398
And she announced from the stage, congratulations to

811
00:30:30.478 --> 00:30:34.418
us in English. She said it in Spanish, then she said it in English to Peter and his

812
00:30:34.438 --> 00:30:35.178
beautiful wife-

813
00:30:35.298 --> 00:30:35.778
Come on, man

814
00:30:35.838 --> 00:30:36.858
... 20th. And I was like-

815
00:30:37.058 --> 00:30:37.578
You got some-

816
00:30:37.838 --> 00:30:38.038
Yeah

817
00:30:38.118 --> 00:30:39.558
... you got some points for that one, I hope.

818
00:30:39.788 --> 00:30:40.078
I got some points. Yeah.

819
00:30:40.138 --> 00:30:42.918
That's going to carry you all the way through 30 probably.

820
00:30:42.978 --> 00:30:46.798
It was a magical thing going back to that concert in New Orleans, and then-

821
00:30:47.018 --> 00:30:47.208
Yeah

822
00:30:47.218 --> 00:30:49.298
... we've been through a lot in our life, as we all are.

823
00:30:49.307 --> 00:30:49.518
Yeah.

824
00:30:49.818 --> 00:30:52.338
But to have this presence of this amazing artist.

825
00:30:52.978 --> 00:30:53.968
And I

826
00:30:56.598 --> 00:30:57.498
saw her at different jazz festivals.

827
00:30:57.558 --> 00:31:00.798
She did some tours on her own and was just really a

828
00:31:01.158 --> 00:31:01.598
beautiful

829
00:31:02.478 --> 00:31:05.298
person and an incredible artist.

830
00:31:05.518 --> 00:31:07.138
So shout-out.

831
00:31:07.638 --> 00:31:08.158
Very cool.

832
00:31:09.818 --> 00:31:13.078
Next up is El Cartero.

833
00:31:13.158 --> 00:31:14.438
El Cartero.

834
00:31:15.278 --> 00:31:16.098
I don't think either one of us-

835
00:31:16.118 --> 00:31:17.558
That's the cart driver. That means the cart driver.

836
00:31:17.858 --> 00:31:19.438
I don't think either one of us nailed that one.

837
00:31:20.298 --> 00:31:20.538
Nailed it. Oh.

838
00:31:21.598 --> 00:31:22.278
Yeah, this is great.

839
00:31:22.758 --> 00:31:23.958
Eliades Ochoa.

840
00:31:25.718 --> 00:31:27.138
Started playing guitar when he was six.

841
00:31:29.338 --> 00:31:30.958
This is the tres guitar,

842
00:31:31.798 --> 00:31:33.278
with the double D and the double G.

843
00:31:35.418 --> 00:31:38.638
Man, is that a thick-ass groove?

844
00:31:38.758 --> 00:31:39.788
Yes, that's a thick-ass groove.

845
00:31:40.138 --> 00:31:41.437
Holy smokes.

846
00:31:45.678 --> 00:31:47.098
That bass, man.

847
00:31:47.658 --> 00:31:55.918
This

848
00:31:55.978 --> 00:31:58.338
is some country stuff right here, the lyrics.

849
00:31:58.418 --> 00:32:01.028
I love it. I love the country stuff.

850
00:32:01.488 --> 00:32:05.408
"Along the track, by my house, a cart driver passed with his

851
00:32:05.958 --> 00:32:07.138
sentimental songs

852
00:32:08.298 --> 00:32:12.098
that guajiro sang. I'm going to the crossing to unburden my

853
00:32:12.198 --> 00:32:14.858
load. I'm going to the crossing to unburden my load.

854
00:32:15.138 --> 00:32:17.538
There I'll reach the end of my crushing labor."

855
00:32:17.738 --> 00:32:19.278
That might as well be some Delta blues.

856
00:32:19.418 --> 00:32:23.218
I know. Very blues. "Right up on the mountain, I work

857
00:32:23.238 --> 00:32:24.778
without..." Man, no, this is better in Spanish.

858
00:32:25.538 --> 00:32:26.318
Yeah, I was going to say-

859
00:32:26.598 --> 00:32:28.258
You want to hear me recite all the lyrics in-

860
00:32:28.287 --> 00:32:29.418
... you want to recite El Camino?

861
00:32:29.658 --> 00:32:31.278
El Camino. I always wanted an El Camino.

862
00:32:31.338 --> 00:32:32.658
In a St. Louis accent.

863
00:32:33.558 --> 00:32:34.738
Next up is Candela.

864
00:32:36.078 --> 00:32:36.438
Oh.

865
00:32:44.518 --> 00:32:47.878
Man, highly recommend the pictures, the lyrics, 25th

866
00:32:47.958 --> 00:32:49.818
anniversary edition,

867
00:32:50.798 --> 00:32:51.638
all remastered.

868
00:32:51.918 --> 00:32:57.338
Candela.

869
00:32:57.638 --> 00:32:58.358
Candela.

870
00:32:58.518 --> 00:32:58.878
Oh, man.

871
00:32:59.258 --> 00:33:02.428
Let's go dance this night

872
00:33:03.278 --> 00:33:06.178
together, man.

873
00:33:07.308 --> 00:33:07.348
I'm down for

874
00:33:07.348 --> 00:33:12.128
this.

875
00:33:12.478 --> 00:33:14.598
Come on.

876
00:33:14.928 --> 00:33:18.558
I've got a

877
00:33:18.618 --> 00:33:19.688
volcano off Kings Highway.

878
00:33:19.878 --> 00:33:20.378
Let's do it.

879
00:33:20.438 --> 00:33:20.758
Let's do it.

880
00:33:22.858 --> 00:33:26.748
This is Tumbao, and so this is actually, I didn't know

881
00:33:26.798 --> 00:33:30.358
about this. This is in here. The guayabero style.

882
00:33:30.898 --> 00:33:34.438
Guayabero just means passion fruit, but this is like when you

883
00:33:35.218 --> 00:33:38.858
got that kind of groove going and you're talking about, the lyrics are very

884
00:33:38.918 --> 00:33:42.778
everyday life type stuff, but they all have sexual innuendos to

885
00:33:42.798 --> 00:33:45.918
them. So it's like, "Oh, fire, I'm burning.

886
00:33:45.938 --> 00:33:48.238
A rodent put on a dance for some great amusement.

887
00:33:48.298 --> 00:33:51.618
He chose a mouse as his drummer to play for the whole day.

888
00:33:51.658 --> 00:33:54.878
An elegant and amiable cat came along, too.

889
00:33:55.148 --> 00:33:56.888
'Good evening, my friend,' he said to the drummer.

890
00:33:57.128 --> 00:34:00.918
'I can play, too, and you can take a rest.' The mouse left the room half

891
00:34:00.978 --> 00:34:03.968
crazy. Now I'll have to go and rest." And the cat played,

892
00:34:05.958 --> 00:34:09.158
anyway. That sounds ridiculous. This is why we got to-

893
00:34:09.618 --> 00:34:09.998
Keep going.

894
00:34:10.879 --> 00:34:11.478
Should I put some-

895
00:34:11.538 --> 00:34:12.018
But man, that-

896
00:34:12.048 --> 00:34:13.298
... should I put some new chords under that?

897
00:34:15.138 --> 00:34:15.828
It's like some-

898
00:34:15.859 --> 00:34:16.708
It's so incredible, man

899
00:34:16.708 --> 00:34:20.419
... some Motown s**t. Man, thick. Killing.

900
00:34:20.618 --> 00:34:22.507
Next up. You got this one. That's your turn.

901
00:34:22.618 --> 00:34:23.868
Oh, what are we getting into now?

902
00:34:25.419 --> 00:34:25.798
Amor?

903
00:34:26.458 --> 00:34:30.138
Oh, Amor de Loca Juventud. Yeah, okay. So yeah, this is cool.

904
00:34:30.178 --> 00:34:30.968
This is getting into like-

905
00:34:30.998 --> 00:34:31.678
So it's Juventud?

906
00:34:31.798 --> 00:34:34.399
I don't know what that... Juventud. I don't know.

907
00:34:34.438 --> 00:34:37.278
This is like getting into... Right.

908
00:34:37.359 --> 00:34:40.038
Let's listen to this because I'm trying to remember which one it is. Yeah.

909
00:34:40.458 --> 00:34:41.678
This is getting a little Americana.

910
00:34:41.698 --> 00:34:43.198
We're getting very cowboy-ish.

911
00:34:43.238 --> 00:34:43.618
Cowboy.

912
00:34:43.718 --> 00:34:43.958
Yeah.

913
00:34:44.258 --> 00:34:44.758
I love it.

914
00:34:48.718 --> 00:34:50.919
This is from the 1930s.

915
00:34:57.178 --> 00:34:58.658
This is real Havana stuff here.

916
00:35:02.698 --> 00:35:03.478
You hear the chorus?

917
00:35:03.538 --> 00:35:03.588
Let's kill it.

918
00:35:03.588 --> 00:35:05.118
Almost like gospely kind of tone.

919
00:35:05.278 --> 00:35:06.388
Yeah.

920
00:35:07.578 --> 00:35:09.558
Like American songbook type stuff.

921
00:35:12.318 --> 00:35:14.478
Love

922
00:35:14.538 --> 00:35:16.978
it.

923
00:35:18.078 --> 00:35:22.068
Oh, man. It's almost like like

924
00:35:22.098 --> 00:35:23.758
those-

925
00:35:23.798 --> 00:35:23.808
Yeah

926
00:35:23.808 --> 00:35:27.418
... the harmoni-

927
00:35:27.458 --> 00:35:28.147
Sweet Georgia Brown. Yeah

928
00:35:28.258 --> 00:35:28.478
... yeah.

929
00:35:30.228 --> 00:35:30.998
This could be a standard.

930
00:35:32.458 --> 00:35:40.398
Augmented

931
00:35:40.458 --> 00:35:40.958
triad.

932
00:35:40.968 --> 00:35:42.198
Timbale, 13-year-old timbale.

933
00:35:43.178 --> 00:35:46.078
I love that they just let the 13-year-olds go nuts on those little-

934
00:35:46.418 --> 00:35:46.818
Killing it.

935
00:35:46.898 --> 00:35:46.998
Yeah.

936
00:35:47.778 --> 00:35:50.258
And then the next one, I'm not even going to try to say this. Yes, I am.

937
00:35:50.598 --> 00:35:52.897
Orgullecida, yeah. Orgullecida.

938
00:35:53.458 --> 00:35:54.318
Orgullecida.

939
00:35:54.398 --> 00:35:54.618
Yeah.

940
00:35:54.878 --> 00:35:55.298
Yeah.

941
00:35:57.518 --> 00:35:58.338
Oh, this is a cool one.

942
00:35:59.898 --> 00:36:01.498
Ruben plays some great stuff.

943
00:36:03.378 --> 00:36:06.798
This gets real jazz adjacent, but this is an old song, too, I think.

944
00:36:09.378 --> 00:36:10.688
It feels like an old song, doesn't it?

945
00:36:19.068 --> 00:36:19.268
Oh,

946
00:36:21.648 --> 00:36:23.658
I think this is when Cooder's song, why can't I...

947
00:36:24.748 --> 00:36:26.228
Little bit of drum set.

948
00:36:27.348 --> 00:36:27.548
Oh. And

949
00:36:27.688 --> 00:36:37.798
normally,

950
00:36:37.868 --> 00:36:41.688
this kind of tune, it would come up as a quibble

951
00:36:41.728 --> 00:36:44.428
bit, like varying a little bit, and maybe a little too much

952
00:36:45.948 --> 00:36:48.908
pedal steel or whatever, but man, it just works.

953
00:36:49.018 --> 00:36:50.308
And the vocals and the vibe-

954
00:36:50.388 --> 00:36:50.738
Something-

955
00:36:50.968 --> 00:36:52.408
And the pacing on this record's great

956
00:36:52.448 --> 00:36:53.948
... they captured something with this.

957
00:36:53.988 --> 00:36:54.168
Yeah.

958
00:36:54.208 --> 00:36:56.038
They captured something with this. Okay, next up.

959
00:36:56.038 --> 00:36:58.098
Like because you can take stuff that maybe not be the strongest...

960
00:36:58.188 --> 00:37:00.288
No, actually, it's a great song, it's just,

961
00:37:01.108 --> 00:37:02.468
man, it just works. Yeah.

962
00:37:04.128 --> 00:37:04.808
Murmullo.

963
00:37:04.848 --> 00:37:05.208
Murmullo.

964
00:37:06.328 --> 00:37:06.608
Wow.

965
00:37:07.628 --> 00:37:08.528
Yeah. This is so sick.

966
00:37:08.568 --> 00:37:09.828
Man, the sound in that room.

967
00:37:12.528 --> 00:37:15.028
This is very like Royal Studios in Memphis kind of vibes.

968
00:37:15.048 --> 00:37:16.308
What a sophisticated player.

969
00:37:16.728 --> 00:37:16.888
Yeah.

970
00:37:18.428 --> 00:37:18.608
Oh.

971
00:37:22.968 --> 00:37:23.488
Details.

972
00:37:23.928 --> 00:37:25.868
All those little crunchy things that he's doing.

973
00:37:31.728 --> 00:37:32.088
Oh,

974
00:37:35.128 --> 00:37:36.748
let it flow, baby. Let it flow.

975
00:37:38.328 --> 00:37:42.068
Woo. That

976
00:37:42.128 --> 00:37:43.888
sounds like something you might do, Peter.

977
00:37:44.008 --> 00:37:45.388
Man, it wouldn't happen.

978
00:37:46.848 --> 00:37:47.988
I definitely was influenced by it.

979
00:37:48.228 --> 00:37:49.988
When I heard his playing, I was like, "I love it.

980
00:37:50.308 --> 00:37:50.908
I want to try it."

981
00:37:52.508 --> 00:37:56.458
I wrote a song very much influenced by it called "Cuba New

982
00:37:56.488 --> 00:37:56.908
Orleans."

983
00:37:59.428 --> 00:37:59.908
I know it now.

984
00:37:59.968 --> 00:38:02.448
Oh, right there. Oh.

985
00:38:03.768 --> 00:38:04.828
Man, this music is so-

986
00:38:05.388 --> 00:38:06.408
But the way he floats

987
00:38:06.428 --> 00:38:06.568
... how amazing. Yeah

988
00:38:06.578 --> 00:38:09.688
... the sort of out of time floating things he does. You know who else does that?

989
00:38:09.928 --> 00:38:10.068
Who?

990
00:38:10.268 --> 00:38:10.668
Gonzalo.

991
00:38:11.228 --> 00:38:11.628
Absolutely.

992
00:38:11.748 --> 00:38:11.848
Yeah.

993
00:38:11.868 --> 00:38:15.768
Absolutely. I can see why

994
00:38:15.808 --> 00:38:18.948
maybe there's some pushback, that it's some idealized version of something.

995
00:38:19.328 --> 00:38:22.608
It's like a Hollywood movie where everything's just right.

996
00:38:22.648 --> 00:38:25.147
But you want that, you know what I mean? It's so romantic.

997
00:38:25.268 --> 00:38:25.428
Yeah.

998
00:38:25.548 --> 00:38:28.908
It's so pristine. It's so masculine.

999
00:38:28.948 --> 00:38:32.068
It's so feminine. It's so life-affirming.

1000
00:38:32.268 --> 00:38:35.888
In the research leading up to this, I did find some pushback by

1001
00:38:35.988 --> 00:38:38.388
some Cubans who were saying this is sort of like

1002
00:38:39.188 --> 00:38:43.137
a memory of an era with rose-colored

1003
00:38:43.188 --> 00:38:43.568
glasses-

1004
00:38:43.628 --> 00:38:43.778
Yeah

1005
00:38:43.828 --> 00:38:47.388
... that didn't actually exist in the sort of romantic way that they're

1006
00:38:47.428 --> 00:38:49.008
portraying it. But-

1007
00:38:49.608 --> 00:38:50.328
But you know what else they say?

1008
00:38:50.568 --> 00:38:50.698
What?

1009
00:38:50.808 --> 00:38:51.468
Haters going to hate.

1010
00:38:51.768 --> 00:38:52.198
Haters going to hate.

1011
00:38:53.108 --> 00:38:54.048
Your girl said that.

1012
00:38:55.088 --> 00:38:55.668
In English.

1013
00:38:56.868 --> 00:39:00.828
No. Look, I don't know enough about that.

1014
00:39:01.048 --> 00:39:01.508
I don't either.

1015
00:39:01.548 --> 00:39:05.258
I can tell you this. To me, art, and this is art, high art,

1016
00:39:05.528 --> 00:39:08.968
great art, great culture, whatever you want to call it, this is a

1017
00:39:09.008 --> 00:39:12.868
document, and not just this book, the music, the sound, that is

1018
00:39:12.908 --> 00:39:16.548
here for posterity. And it's like uplift so many people.

1019
00:39:16.588 --> 00:39:19.148
Me, every time I listen to it. It's top shelf.

1020
00:39:19.348 --> 00:39:19.498
Mm-hmm.

1021
00:39:20.128 --> 00:39:21.148
Maybe it's not for everybody, that's fine.

1022
00:39:21.188 --> 00:39:22.077
But I'm saying,

1023
00:39:23.048 --> 00:39:23.238
and

1024
00:39:24.288 --> 00:39:27.878
it wasn't AI, it wasn't trickery, there was no

1025
00:39:28.048 --> 00:39:28.788
over-dubbing.

1026
00:39:28.828 --> 00:39:29.297
No.

1027
00:39:29.297 --> 00:39:30.788
Not that you can't make a great record.

1028
00:39:30.808 --> 00:39:31.148
Absolutely.

1029
00:39:31.188 --> 00:39:32.708
We've listened to a lot of over-dubbing.

1030
00:39:32.788 --> 00:39:35.408
But however they got there, this one got there very authentically-

1031
00:39:35.568 --> 00:39:35.577
For sure

1032
00:39:35.577 --> 00:39:36.128
... analog,

1033
00:39:36.988 --> 00:39:38.808
and the story behind it supports that.

1034
00:39:38.848 --> 00:39:40.848
But even if you don't know any of that, you shouldn't have to know that.

1035
00:39:41.228 --> 00:39:42.968
Does the music move me?

1036
00:39:43.128 --> 00:39:43.608
The music is-

1037
00:39:43.648 --> 00:39:43.868
Yes

1038
00:39:43.948 --> 00:39:44.548
... is moving.

1039
00:39:44.708 --> 00:39:44.797
Yeah.

1040
00:39:44.868 --> 00:39:45.148
For sure.

1041
00:39:45.508 --> 00:39:47.368
And from beginning to end, and we're getting towards-

1042
00:39:47.648 --> 00:39:48.928
We're at the penultimate track.

1043
00:39:48.948 --> 00:39:49.098
Yeah.

1044
00:39:49.098 --> 00:39:51.108
This is the title track, "Buena Vista Social Club."

1045
00:39:51.137 --> 00:39:51.988
Oh. And this is written by Cachao.

1046
00:39:53.528 --> 00:39:53.668
Ooh.

1047
00:39:55.768 --> 00:39:57.378
Wait, can we go back and just listen to the beginning here?

1048
00:39:57.468 --> 00:39:58.418
Wait, before we play it,

1049
00:39:59.488 --> 00:40:03.368
okay, we're moving along in the record, like you

1050
00:40:03.808 --> 00:40:07.488
noted how "Chan Chan," the way the record starts is so

1051
00:40:07.568 --> 00:40:10.888
powerful and arresting, but also it's kind of dark.

1052
00:40:11.088 --> 00:40:11.328
Taunting.

1053
00:40:11.368 --> 00:40:15.328
But it's haunting, but the groove, it's just

1054
00:40:15.388 --> 00:40:18.998
pulling you into something. That there is joy, but it's like, where's it

1055
00:40:18.998 --> 00:40:21.908
going? The way this starts, this is just a little moment on the record.

1056
00:40:21.928 --> 00:40:25.908
I'm not saying this is the greatest moment or apex moment, but it's just an

1057
00:40:25.928 --> 00:40:29.428
example of many different things. It's kind of weird.

1058
00:40:29.528 --> 00:40:31.028
It almost reminds me of

1059
00:40:32.208 --> 00:40:37.308
D'Angelo

1060
00:40:37.348 --> 00:40:37.848
at the beginning of-

1061
00:40:37.958 --> 00:40:38.318
"Untitled"

1062
00:40:38.608 --> 00:40:38.678
... "Untitled."

1063
00:40:38.678 --> 00:40:39.178
Yeah.

1064
00:40:38.678 --> 00:40:40.328
Like the way they play that chord with rock out.

1065
00:40:40.388 --> 00:40:40.398
Yeah.

1066
00:40:40.568 --> 00:40:43.848
It's kind of weird, but it's also like, pay attention. So, okay. Sorry.

1067
00:40:48.488 --> 00:40:49.308
Yeah, I see that now.

1068
00:40:49.548 --> 00:40:50.088
Yeah.

1069
00:40:58.808 --> 00:41:00.388
It's so good.

1070
00:41:02.828 --> 00:41:05.928
Orlando López on bass, man. Intonation off the charts.

1071
00:41:09.488 --> 00:41:10.108
Perfection.

1072
00:41:13.348 --> 00:41:13.848
Ry Cooder.

1073
00:41:14.008 --> 00:41:14.208
Yeah.

1074
00:41:16.928 --> 00:41:17.968
Imposing as well, but

1075
00:41:18.988 --> 00:41:20.648
subtly, actually. And well done.

1076
00:41:20.728 --> 00:41:22.268
He doesn't overdo it, and that helps.

1077
00:41:22.628 --> 00:41:22.718
Yes.

1078
00:41:22.718 --> 00:41:22.888
Yeah.

1079
00:41:28.268 --> 00:41:28.748
Woo.

1080
00:41:32.708 --> 00:41:33.468
He was born to lie there.

1081
00:41:35.268 --> 00:41:35.788
One too many?

1082
00:41:36.848 --> 00:41:37.528
Ooh, quibble bit. No.

1083
00:41:39.628 --> 00:41:39.788
Yeah.

1084
00:41:45.648 --> 00:41:48.188
Okay, this is crazy. So

1085
00:41:49.008 --> 00:41:51.918
Cachao, and then Cachaito, the bass player on here,

1086
00:41:55.568 --> 00:41:59.248
Orlando López, comes from a whole family of musicians which

1087
00:41:59.288 --> 00:42:03.188
includes over fill in the blank number of bass

1088
00:42:03.208 --> 00:42:04.078
players in his family.

1089
00:42:04.948 --> 00:42:07.168
What's the most number of bass players a family could have?

1090
00:42:07.288 --> 00:42:10.368
If you have more than five,

1091
00:42:10.528 --> 00:42:14.497
the family is lifted to a new economic level- ...

1092
00:42:14.548 --> 00:42:16.588
because everybody's working so much, right?

1093
00:42:16.598 --> 00:42:17.098
Exactly.

1094
00:42:16.608 --> 00:42:19.968
And the family disbands because there's no time to spend with each other- ...

1095
00:42:20.108 --> 00:42:22.908
because bassists work all the time. But what do we got here?

1096
00:42:23.068 --> 00:42:25.436
40.Over 40. Bass players.

1097
00:42:25.596 --> 00:42:26.576
It's not even a family anymore.

1098
00:42:26.836 --> 00:42:29.536
But this is what I'm saying. This is culture to me.

1099
00:42:29.836 --> 00:42:33.606
A culture that could support 40 bass players in

1100
00:42:33.796 --> 00:42:35.436
one family, loves music.

1101
00:42:35.756 --> 00:42:36.176
Oh, for sure.

1102
00:42:36.266 --> 00:42:39.155
On one island, and I think that's the stunning thing.

1103
00:42:39.216 --> 00:42:42.036
Look, I know Cuba's got issues. There's so much stuff.

1104
00:42:42.056 --> 00:42:44.556
We're not getting into any of that because we're talking about the music.

1105
00:42:44.576 --> 00:42:46.616
We're here to talk about the music. We ain't talking about practice.

1106
00:42:46.656 --> 00:42:47.236
I'm going to tell you,

1107
00:42:48.216 --> 00:42:52.196
every culture, every place, puts

1108
00:42:52.216 --> 00:42:55.336
things into the world, and it's not about better than the other.

1109
00:42:55.416 --> 00:42:59.365
But I just want to acknowledge and thank when a culture puts

1110
00:42:59.396 --> 00:43:02.096
something out there to the world that's so great and so inviting.

1111
00:43:02.436 --> 00:43:02.936
You know what I mean?

1112
00:43:02.976 --> 00:43:03.096
Yeah.

1113
00:43:03.176 --> 00:43:07.136
I bet you put this on, these grooves, this kind of playing, or musicians playing it

1114
00:43:07.196 --> 00:43:10.996
now, like Harold and Ruy and all the young guys, and you do these

1115
00:43:11.016 --> 00:43:14.456
songs. I bet 80, 90% of Cuban people know how to dance to this, know the

1116
00:43:14.536 --> 00:43:18.466
songs, in a way that speaks very highly

1117
00:43:18.516 --> 00:43:19.306
to cultural integration.

1118
00:43:19.356 --> 00:43:23.336
Oh, I bet we'll get some older Cuban listeners in our comments here who's saying

1119
00:43:23.356 --> 00:43:25.436
that, "No, the young people aren't dancing to it like they did."

1120
00:43:25.556 --> 00:43:28.916
I don't know. That's a good question.

1121
00:43:28.956 --> 00:43:29.366
I'll tell you this-

1122
00:43:29.416 --> 00:43:31.416
Just because it's fun for generations to know each other.

1123
00:43:31.466 --> 00:43:32.536
Yeah. And I want to shout out,

1124
00:43:34.296 --> 00:43:38.136
Morris Tamsky, who was my father's best friend for many years.

1125
00:43:38.176 --> 00:43:41.216
He passed a couple of years ago at the age of, I believe 96 or 97.

1126
00:43:41.776 --> 00:43:42.476
From Havana,

1127
00:43:43.496 --> 00:43:46.586
came to St. Louis in the, I believe, early '50s,

1128
00:43:47.836 --> 00:43:51.356
and was a son of Cuba to the point when I was at his funeral two years

1129
00:43:51.396 --> 00:43:55.206
ago. He was laid to rest, his coffin was

1130
00:43:55.236 --> 00:43:58.336
there, and as he wanted, the Cuban flag.

1131
00:43:58.366 --> 00:43:58.736
Mm.

1132
00:43:58.796 --> 00:44:02.296
He said, "That's what's going to be covering me," as he

1133
00:44:02.316 --> 00:44:05.596
departs. And I remember my dad telling me about, he went to see the same tour.

1134
00:44:05.696 --> 00:44:08.336
We were living in New Orleans. Powell Hall, right around the corner from here.

1135
00:44:08.376 --> 00:44:11.796
Same thing. Everybody's on their feet, and Morris is a

1136
00:44:13.196 --> 00:44:15.156
son of Cuba, but that's that kind of thing.

1137
00:44:15.316 --> 00:44:17.276
I don't think it's just with the older people.

1138
00:44:18.356 --> 00:44:21.326
I'm sure everybody's like, "Oh, they're not like they used to be." But there's a

1139
00:44:21.356 --> 00:44:22.006
connection with

1140
00:44:23.596 --> 00:44:25.566
the culture being so magnetic and

1141
00:44:26.936 --> 00:44:30.076
absorbed into the people and the education there that's stunning, I think.

1142
00:44:31.116 --> 00:44:32.436
Are we on the last track?

1143
00:44:33.315 --> 00:44:34.396
Last two tracks?

1144
00:44:34.416 --> 00:44:34.426
Yeah.

1145
00:44:34.426 --> 00:44:35.856
You over there writing? Are you planning next week's episode?

1146
00:44:35.896 --> 00:44:38.656
I'm just kind of making some notes here. No, this is the final track.

1147
00:44:38.756 --> 00:44:38.846
Yeah.

1148
00:44:38.856 --> 00:44:40.796
This is "Bayamesa."

1149
00:44:41.356 --> 00:44:41.926
"Bayamesa."

1150
00:44:45.116 --> 00:44:46.476
Oh, we're in three. Only song in three.

1151
00:44:47.496 --> 00:44:48.045
A criolla.

1152
00:44:48.356 --> 00:44:48.616
I think.

1153
00:44:54.036 --> 00:44:57.956
It was written by the Bohemian troubadour, Sindo Garay in,

1154
00:44:58.316 --> 00:44:58.436
yeah,

1155
00:44:59.276 --> 00:44:59.916
guess what year.

1156
00:45:02.256 --> 00:45:03.056
1992.

1157
00:45:03.516 --> 00:45:06.726
Let's listen to little bit of it,

1158
00:45:07.536 --> 00:45:09.136
I guess.

1159
00:45:12.846 --> 00:45:13.706
This is

1160
00:45:13.776 --> 00:45:26.236
crazy.

1161
00:45:27.036 --> 00:45:27.276
Okay.

1162
00:45:28.936 --> 00:45:32.856
So, "Bayamesa" was written by the great Bohemian

1163
00:45:32.896 --> 00:45:36.336
troubadour, Sindo Garay, as I said, in 1869.

1164
00:45:36.476 --> 00:45:36.956
Amazing.

1165
00:45:37.016 --> 00:45:40.696
Composed in the criolla rhythm, a

1166
00:45:40.776 --> 00:45:44.736
precursor of the son. It is a patriotic hymn to the Republic of Cuba.

1167
00:45:45.416 --> 00:45:47.566
The lyrics tell the story of a woman from

1168
00:45:47.596 --> 00:45:50.996
Bayamo, the first town to be

1169
00:45:51.036 --> 00:45:54.976
liberated in the Revolutionary War of 1868, who burns

1170
00:45:55.016 --> 00:45:57.756
her house rather than let it fall into the hands of the Spanish.

1171
00:45:58.166 --> 00:46:02.016
This version features a new ending arranged by Compay Segundo, who's

1172
00:46:02.096 --> 00:46:06.056
on this record, who had clear memories of a time when, as a boy of

1173
00:46:06.116 --> 00:46:08.416
seven, Garay would visit his family home-

1174
00:46:08.825 --> 00:46:08.846
It's amazing

1175
00:46:08.846 --> 00:46:09.956
... from 1869.

1176
00:46:10.676 --> 00:46:12.076
Oh, man.

1177
00:46:12.296 --> 00:46:12.636
So great.

1178
00:46:12.796 --> 00:46:14.396
Amazing. Well, Peter, let's do some categories.

1179
00:46:14.416 --> 00:46:16.316
What do you got for desert island tracks? What have you landed on?

1180
00:46:16.396 --> 00:46:16.736
Okay.

1181
00:46:18.216 --> 00:46:19.196
Oh, is this the special one?

1182
00:46:19.456 --> 00:46:20.536
This is the especial.

1183
00:46:20.676 --> 00:46:20.885
Oh, gosh.

1184
00:46:20.896 --> 00:46:21.186
Especial.

1185
00:46:21.236 --> 00:46:22.256
Don't ruin the show, man.

1186
00:46:22.316 --> 00:46:23.116
Yeah.

1187
00:46:25.016 --> 00:46:28.296
This album is my desert island album.

1188
00:46:30.236 --> 00:46:33.076
Oh. This is the only, if you were like-

1189
00:46:33.096 --> 00:46:33.105
Yes

1190
00:46:33.105 --> 00:46:34.196
... you can only bring one album.

1191
00:46:34.436 --> 00:46:38.116
Yeah. And experiencing it with you and our dear listeners today, I feel even

1192
00:46:38.256 --> 00:46:41.266
more. I was wondering, like, should I? I'm thinking of other things.

1193
00:46:41.396 --> 00:46:42.636
I feel even more emboldened.

1194
00:46:42.735 --> 00:46:43.936
This is a very special day.

1195
00:46:44.096 --> 00:46:47.786
Man, I love this. This would be my desert island.

1196
00:46:47.796 --> 00:46:50.676
Now, can I be on the island of Cuba? That would even be better.

1197
00:46:51.356 --> 00:46:52.536
Then I'd have a little space to spread.

1198
00:46:52.556 --> 00:46:53.696
It's not a desert island.

1199
00:46:53.996 --> 00:46:54.376
That's true.

1200
00:46:55.236 --> 00:46:59.086
But yeah, this is unequivocally. I love this record that much.

1201
00:46:59.116 --> 00:47:03.056
Now, some of you might say, "Oh, you said that about some other thing," and I love

1202
00:47:03.116 --> 00:47:06.646
a lot of albums. Sue me. Okay? Talk to my attorneys DeBosier and

1203
00:47:06.676 --> 00:47:08.876
DeBosier, Esquires. Both of them.

1204
00:47:09.296 --> 00:47:13.236
But the thing is, this record, for me, it's the intersection of

1205
00:47:13.296 --> 00:47:16.336
nostalgia, family, love, Morris,

1206
00:47:17.896 --> 00:47:20.626
being able to, Omaro. There's so much

1207
00:47:20.876 --> 00:47:23.276
connection, but I also just love the music.

1208
00:47:23.376 --> 00:47:26.856
I will never get tired of listening to this record. There. Said it.

1209
00:47:27.656 --> 00:47:31.216
Well, I really wish I would've gone first because I can't top that.

1210
00:47:31.916 --> 00:47:35.316
My desert island track is Dos Gardenias, because I-

1211
00:47:35.436 --> 00:47:36.556
Paleki? Palemi?

1212
00:47:37.036 --> 00:47:37.476
Paleti.

1213
00:47:37.636 --> 00:47:38.056
Palemi.

1214
00:47:38.616 --> 00:47:39.116
Paleti.

1215
00:47:39.236 --> 00:47:39.436
Okay.

1216
00:47:40.016 --> 00:47:40.806
Apex moment, what do you got?

1217
00:47:41.216 --> 00:47:44.896
Okay. So, we listened to, what is that, the third track?

1218
00:47:44.986 --> 00:47:46.756
"El Cuarto de Tula."

1219
00:47:46.916 --> 00:47:47.016
Yeah.

1220
00:47:47.156 --> 00:47:47.776
Tula's the

1221
00:47:48.656 --> 00:47:51.836
young lady who likes to have a good time, apparently, if the English translation is

1222
00:47:51.876 --> 00:47:53.756
correct. So, if you start at about four.

1223
00:47:54.096 --> 00:47:56.236
So, Barbarito Torres, who we haven't talked about enough.

1224
00:47:56.526 --> 00:48:00.356
At that Sanger show in New Orleans in '99, he

1225
00:48:00.396 --> 00:48:04.356
played some of the most incredible solos, and I just want

1226
00:48:04.366 --> 00:48:04.716
to get the...

1227
00:48:05.836 --> 00:48:08.876
Yeah, here it comes. This guitar solo is one of the greatest-

1228
00:48:09.096 --> 00:48:09.896
Oh, this is really killing it

1229
00:48:09.906 --> 00:48:10.436
... improvised solos.

1230
00:48:10.476 --> 00:48:11.156
This is killing it.

1231
00:48:11.856 --> 00:48:14.176
And this is like a laúd. This is like a Cuban lute.

1232
00:48:16.176 --> 00:48:17.176
The way he builds it up.

1233
00:48:20.856 --> 00:48:22.396
Oh, just that double string.

1234
00:48:25.176 --> 00:48:25.996
This is a great call, Pete.

1235
00:48:31.124 --> 00:48:33.264
Oh, blue scale? Come on.

1236
00:48:34.484 --> 00:48:34.824
Oh.

1237
00:48:42.464 --> 00:48:43.544
Sharp nine? Come on.

1238
00:48:43.784 --> 00:48:44.224
It's killing.

1239
00:48:45.244 --> 00:48:46.794
You might have won this. You might have won this. That's great.

1240
00:48:46.824 --> 00:48:47.974
What are you doing?

1241
00:48:48.944 --> 00:48:52.523
No, really, what are you doing, dude? Dan, you done? Okay, go ahead.

1242
00:48:53.144 --> 00:48:55.034
Man, that solo is-

1243
00:48:55.084 --> 00:48:55.594
It's so funny, because-

1244
00:48:55.604 --> 00:48:56.954
It's one of the greatest improvised solos

1245
00:48:57.064 --> 00:49:00.164
... it's incredible. I actually picked another solo, but I picked Rubén González

1246
00:49:00.204 --> 00:49:01.704
solo on the next track-

1247
00:49:01.714 --> 00:49:02.214
Yeah

1248
00:49:01.714 --> 00:49:02.744
... "Pueblo Nuevo."

1249
00:49:02.904 --> 00:49:03.004
Yeah.

1250
00:49:03.724 --> 00:49:04.244
Right around here.

1251
00:49:05.744 --> 00:49:07.424
Woo. Oh, yeah, when they go into the mambo.

1252
00:49:07.464 --> 00:49:08.584
When they go to the mambo, feel how.

1253
00:49:11.344 --> 00:49:11.624
Oh.

1254
00:49:13.684 --> 00:49:16.684
The

1255
00:49:16.764 --> 00:49:18.084
flavor.

1256
00:49:31.524 --> 00:49:33.714
Ooh. All that stuff, man. So good.

1257
00:49:34.544 --> 00:49:36.064
Bespoke playlist, what do you got?

1258
00:49:36.163 --> 00:49:36.443
Goats.

1259
00:49:37.684 --> 00:49:38.104
Goats?

1260
00:49:38.144 --> 00:49:38.434
Goats.

1261
00:49:38.564 --> 00:49:38.884
Goats.

1262
00:49:39.004 --> 00:49:42.794
Yeah. The playlist would have other albums like KOB and just

1263
00:49:44.004 --> 00:49:47.404
top-selling, but top level, just greatest of all times.

1264
00:49:47.424 --> 00:49:50.024
Yep. I've got Barnes & Noble endcap all-star.

1265
00:49:50.444 --> 00:49:51.784
Maybe the Barnes & Noble endcap goat.

1266
00:49:51.804 --> 00:49:52.654
You always win this category.

1267
00:49:52.694 --> 00:49:56.584
I can't imagine another album crushing at a Starbucks

1268
00:49:56.664 --> 00:49:57.004
counter.

1269
00:49:57.244 --> 00:49:57.594
Oh, my God. Yes.

1270
00:49:57.604 --> 00:49:59.444
Crushing at a Barnes & Noble endcap.

1271
00:49:59.504 --> 00:49:59.644
Right.

1272
00:49:59.984 --> 00:50:00.554
This destroys.

1273
00:50:00.564 --> 00:50:02.294
The good folks at Mile might have a problem with you.

1274
00:50:02.294 --> 00:50:06.224
Put inside an NPR tote bag as a giveaway. You know what I'm saying?

1275
00:50:06.824 --> 00:50:09.974
This had to have cleaned up in the early 2000s-

1276
00:50:09.994 --> 00:50:10.834
Oh, yeah

1277
00:50:10.834 --> 00:50:11.314
... for

1278
00:50:14.204 --> 00:50:15.044
middle-class moms-

1279
00:50:15.204 --> 00:50:15.354
Right

1280
00:50:15.524 --> 00:50:18.644
... in their minivans, for...

1281
00:50:18.684 --> 00:50:19.444
New York Times readers?

1282
00:50:19.684 --> 00:50:21.104
New York Times readers, for-

1283
00:50:21.344 --> 00:50:21.764
PBS?

1284
00:50:21.924 --> 00:50:22.904
French teenagers.

1285
00:50:24.044 --> 00:50:24.054
For mayors?

1286
00:50:24.504 --> 00:50:25.204
Just amazing. Okay.

1287
00:50:25.224 --> 00:50:27.144
I love that. That's great. You always win that category, man.

1288
00:50:27.464 --> 00:50:28.124
Quibble bits, what do you got?

1289
00:50:28.204 --> 00:50:28.444
None.

1290
00:50:28.954 --> 00:50:31.544
I have, my quibble bit is I can't pronounce the title.

1291
00:50:32.404 --> 00:50:32.864
Snometer.

1292
00:50:32.874 --> 00:50:33.324
Is that a quibble bit?

1293
00:50:33.424 --> 00:50:34.214
Snometer, what do you got?

1294
00:50:34.384 --> 00:50:38.004
Okay, I think I got this right, and I think I haven't seen yours, but can we say

1295
00:50:38.044 --> 00:50:38.864
them at the same time?

1296
00:50:38.963 --> 00:50:39.104
Sure.

1297
00:50:39.284 --> 00:50:40.584
Because I think we might say the same thing.

1298
00:50:40.984 --> 00:50:42.884
So I was going to say one, two, three, and then the number.

1299
00:50:42.984 --> 00:50:43.244
Okay, ready?

1300
00:50:43.304 --> 00:50:45.604
Okay. One, two, three. One.

1301
00:50:45.744 --> 00:50:45.824
Yeah.

1302
00:50:45.884 --> 00:50:46.064
Okay.

1303
00:50:47.424 --> 00:50:47.503
Finally.

1304
00:50:48.124 --> 00:50:49.693
I can't believe this. This might be our first-

1305
00:50:49.764 --> 00:50:51.514
I almost went 10, though. Which would've been weird.

1306
00:50:51.514 --> 00:50:51.794
Are you serious?

1307
00:50:51.984 --> 00:50:55.144
Because it's so great. It's so great. 10's better.

1308
00:50:55.164 --> 00:50:56.934
So tell me about your one rating on the scale.

1309
00:50:57.014 --> 00:50:58.234
So for those of you who don't know-

1310
00:50:58.394 --> 00:51:01.204
It sold eight million records. It's the greatest-selling world album of all time.

1311
00:51:01.344 --> 00:51:01.464
Yeah.

1312
00:51:01.504 --> 00:51:02.044
So it has to be a one.

1313
00:51:02.164 --> 00:51:05.464
Snometer is like if it's a one, it's not snobby at all. It's very accessible.

1314
00:51:05.504 --> 00:51:09.204
And 10, it's very snobby, and it's hard to listen to. It's not very accessible.

1315
00:51:09.344 --> 00:51:11.904
If you want me to explain my one, see above your bespoke playlist.

1316
00:51:11.984 --> 00:51:12.064
Right.

1317
00:51:12.104 --> 00:51:12.444
That tells you.

1318
00:51:12.784 --> 00:51:16.284
Is it better than Miles Davis's 1959 masterpiece, "Kind of Blue"?

1319
00:51:16.424 --> 00:51:16.604
Yes.

1320
00:51:17.224 --> 00:51:17.324
No.

1321
00:51:17.804 --> 00:51:18.283
Oh my God.

1322
00:51:18.584 --> 00:51:19.174
Accoutrements.

1323
00:51:19.204 --> 00:51:20.693
We're just going to just jump right past it?

1324
00:51:20.704 --> 00:51:21.424
That's all we need to say.

1325
00:51:21.664 --> 00:51:22.394
Okay. Okay. 10.

1326
00:51:22.964 --> 00:51:23.404
11.

1327
00:51:24.964 --> 00:51:25.484
I have 11.

1328
00:51:25.514 --> 00:51:25.774
You s*n o* a b***h.

1329
00:51:25.784 --> 00:51:29.714
There's a freaking two-hour long documentary and if that is-

1330
00:51:29.724 --> 00:51:30.634
That's as part of the Accoutrements, the album

1331
00:51:30.634 --> 00:51:32.664
... that is part of the accoutrements of the whole album.

1332
00:51:33.164 --> 00:51:35.084
You watch them make the album, dude.

1333
00:51:35.564 --> 00:51:39.144
I thought I was going to stretch by saying 10 because of this beautiful 25th

1334
00:51:39.224 --> 00:51:40.824
anniversary, because the-

1335
00:51:40.884 --> 00:51:40.954
Oh

1336
00:51:40.954 --> 00:51:42.784
... original I might've said nine. The original's great.

1337
00:51:42.904 --> 00:51:44.904
The original's great, but the 25th anniversary is so sick.

1338
00:51:44.944 --> 00:51:44.994
Yeah.

1339
00:51:45.024 --> 00:51:46.094
But the documentary-

1340
00:51:46.094 --> 00:51:48.544
You can go 11, so it's appliable one then.

1341
00:51:49.104 --> 00:51:52.444
If you can go desert island album, I'm going to go 11 on Accoutrements.

1342
00:51:52.484 --> 00:51:53.724
Good. I'm not mad at you.

1343
00:51:53.764 --> 00:51:54.124
What do you got?

1344
00:51:54.884 --> 00:51:56.604
Afro Cuban All Stars.

1345
00:51:57.424 --> 00:51:58.524
The first rec-

1346
00:51:58.654 --> 00:51:58.894
"Con Calma"

1347
00:51:58.894 --> 00:52:00.244
... I totally, "A Toda Cuba Le Gusta,"

1348
00:52:01.764 --> 00:52:05.414
that's an incredible record. Or "Introducing Rubén González," another great record.

1349
00:52:05.944 --> 00:52:07.044
I have, and hear me out.

1350
00:52:07.244 --> 00:52:07.604
I'm hearing you.

1351
00:52:09.544 --> 00:52:10.114
Okay, computer.

1352
00:52:11.354 --> 00:52:14.334
"Two Against Nature," Steely Dan.

1353
00:52:15.344 --> 00:52:15.924
Ooh.

1354
00:52:15.984 --> 00:52:19.564
Now, we've talked about how this album, "Buena Vista Social Club" is an

1355
00:52:19.624 --> 00:52:21.824
amazing comeback album for all these artists.

1356
00:52:21.884 --> 00:52:22.424
Yeah.

1357
00:52:22.444 --> 00:52:25.444
And around the same time, just a couple of years after the album came out, and just

1358
00:52:25.484 --> 00:52:29.464
a couple months after the documentary came out, Steely Dan's "Two Against

1359
00:52:29.524 --> 00:52:31.014
Nature" came out, 20 years-

1360
00:52:31.104 --> 00:52:31.384
Yeah

1361
00:52:31.394 --> 00:52:32.444
... after "Gaucho."

1362
00:52:32.494 --> 00:52:33.104
After "Gaucho," yeah.

1363
00:52:33.134 --> 00:52:33.614
And-

1364
00:52:33.734 --> 00:52:36.654
And then they did the first tour, ever, or since then.

1365
00:52:36.684 --> 00:52:39.064
It was also a Barnes & Noble endcap all-stars.

1366
00:52:39.104 --> 00:52:39.644
Oh, of course.

1367
00:52:39.664 --> 00:52:40.354
But it just-

1368
00:52:40.354 --> 00:52:41.804
Steely Dan, yeah, there's going to be some overlap.

1369
00:52:41.844 --> 00:52:44.524
I know. I just have "Two Against Nature" and this album as like,

1370
00:52:45.844 --> 00:52:49.204
a lot of people probably were listening to these two albums around the same time.

1371
00:52:49.404 --> 00:52:49.704
Absolutely.

1372
00:52:49.744 --> 00:52:53.244
You know what I mean? I also have, and I don't know why, this doesn't make total

1373
00:52:53.284 --> 00:52:57.164
sense, but I kind of mentioned Argentine tango before, but the way that some of the

1374
00:52:57.244 --> 00:52:59.854
Astor Piazzolla tango albums are recorded-

1375
00:53:00.124 --> 00:53:00.194
Yeah

1376
00:53:00.424 --> 00:53:02.444
... remind me of the way this album sounds.

1377
00:53:02.574 --> 00:53:03.074
Mm.

1378
00:53:02.584 --> 00:53:05.774
And I know that those Piazzolla albums, a lot of them were a lot earlier than this,

1379
00:53:05.844 --> 00:53:06.164
for sure.

1380
00:53:06.554 --> 00:53:07.054
I had to share that?

1381
00:53:06.564 --> 00:53:07.424
Piazzolla.

1382
00:53:07.484 --> 00:53:07.804
Okay.

1383
00:53:07.884 --> 00:53:08.544
How do you say it?

1384
00:53:08.584 --> 00:53:10.104
I thought it was Piazzolla.

1385
00:53:10.124 --> 00:53:10.684
Piazzolla.

1386
00:53:11.084 --> 00:53:11.194
Piazzolla.

1387
00:53:11.194 --> 00:53:11.824
There's an A on the end.

1388
00:53:11.854 --> 00:53:12.354
There is. A.

1389
00:53:11.884 --> 00:53:13.494
Do you pronounce A's as Z's?

1390
00:53:13.504 --> 00:53:14.884
You say it A. Go. You keep going.

1391
00:53:15.144 --> 00:53:19.084
Astor Piazzolla, of course, genius Argentine bandoneon

1392
00:53:19.244 --> 00:53:21.684
and composer. Bandoneonist and composer.

1393
00:53:22.204 --> 00:53:22.814
I don't know, it's not-

1394
00:53:22.864 --> 00:53:23.544
Bandoneonist?

1395
00:53:23.784 --> 00:53:24.924
Bandoneonian?

1396
00:53:26.464 --> 00:53:27.924
No, but there's something about the way those-

1397
00:53:28.004 --> 00:53:30.924
I have bandoneonian columns on the front of my house we're installing currently.

1398
00:53:31.064 --> 00:53:31.404
Excellent.

1399
00:53:31.464 --> 00:53:31.544
Yeah.

1400
00:53:33.004 --> 00:53:36.864
Something about the way those Piazzolla albums were recorded,

1401
00:53:37.084 --> 00:53:37.154
and-

1402
00:53:37.204 --> 00:53:38.504
You want to flow from this to that.

1403
00:53:38.644 --> 00:53:38.824
Yeah.

1404
00:53:38.864 --> 00:53:39.354
That makes sense.

1405
00:53:39.544 --> 00:53:39.714
It would-

1406
00:53:39.744 --> 00:53:39.964
Totally

1407
00:53:39.974 --> 00:53:41.334
... I don't know if it would fit musically.

1408
00:53:41.404 --> 00:53:45.314
Certainly, the danzones remind me aesthetically in the form of some of those

1409
00:53:45.344 --> 00:53:48.864
tangos, but just like the way that the

1410
00:53:48.904 --> 00:53:52.144
instruments are tracked feels very at home in this album.

1411
00:53:52.584 --> 00:53:55.864
Damn, that's a good cover, man. That's beautiful. It's an 11. 11 out of 10.

1412
00:53:55.954 --> 00:53:56.154
It's an 11. All right.

1413
00:53:56.154 --> 00:53:59.104
Damn it. I wish I had known that. Oh, I'm surprised, so for your Up Next, you

1414
00:53:59.204 --> 00:54:03.044
decided not, we have some other big records from 1997, you did not go with Puff

1415
00:54:03.104 --> 00:54:05.554
Daddy and the Family, "No Way Out" as your next one.

1416
00:54:05.584 --> 00:54:06.364
No, but that's a banger.

1417
00:54:06.374 --> 00:54:06.384
Okay.

1418
00:54:06.424 --> 00:54:06.924
That's a banger.

1419
00:54:07.624 --> 00:54:07.884
Is it?

1420
00:54:08.424 --> 00:54:12.264
It'd be amazing to go to Elliott Smith, "Either/Or," but you are asking for

1421
00:54:12.324 --> 00:54:12.444
it.

1422
00:54:12.604 --> 00:54:12.784
Right.

1423
00:54:13.464 --> 00:54:13.644
All right.

1424
00:54:14.704 --> 00:54:15.284
Man, this was fun.

1425
00:54:15.384 --> 00:54:15.864
This is great.

1426
00:54:15.904 --> 00:54:16.444
This was great.

1427
00:54:16.554 --> 00:54:17.054
This is great.

1428
00:54:17.064 --> 00:54:17.284
Thank you

1429
00:54:18.204 --> 00:54:20.064
guys for being here. Until next time.

1430
00:54:20.104 --> 00:54:20.504
You'll hear it.