Ry Cooder finds accompaniment in Cuba

Ry Cooder

March 4, 1998
Web posted at: 12:07 a.m. EST (0507 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Music is a universal language, and its beauty transcends all barriers, even the barrier of a decades-long economic embargo.

That's what Ry Cooder seems to be saying with the "Buena Vista Social Club," which was recorded two years ago in Cuba and won the Grammy award last week for Best Tropical Latin Performance.

Cooder played with Cuban musicians on the compact disc.

The musicians recently performed at a London jazz club

Cooder, who has played with The Rolling Stones, Little Feat and Randy Newman, said meeting the older Cuban artists undiscovered by American ears was like visiting a living hall of fame.

"It's the ultimate. It's like walking into a room full of Louis Armstrong-great people," Cooder said. "Where else on the planet can you do that?"

In the case of one Cuban musical legend, it wasn't clear if he remained on the planet.

Cooder had asked for Ruben Gonzales.

"I asked for him and they said, 'Well, Ruben's dead'... I said, 'Check again, it's a small town, Havana, basically, and they said, 'Well, he's really not dead, he's just... arthritic. He's retired. He can't play anymore. I said, 'That's good enough for me. Bring him down. Bring him down to the studio'... Of course, he played great," Cooder said.

Then there was Compay Segundo, a 90-year-old artist, who sings and plays guitar. Segundo was pleased about the Grammy, but didn't bother being modest.

"There's no artist in the world who is 90-years-old and who is still singing. That's why I deserve a prize. I've earned it," Segundo said.

Cooder says he doesn't know the answers to U.S.-Cuban relations, but he is opposed to a continued boycott of the island.

"They need things desperately. They need medicine and they need food, and they... need the necessities of life," he said. "There's no reason for them not to have these things... I mean it's insane."

But at least, Cooder said, he has helped a group of talented musicians not to just win a Grammy but also to win a larger group of listeners.

"Their music is now reaching a wider audience, and that's kind of what I'm here to do," he said.

Correspondent Mark Scheerer contributed to this report.

Related site:

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• The Ultimate band List - Ry Cooder

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