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Manuel 'El Guajiro' Mirabal, one of the last Buena Vista Social Club's members, dies

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The world of Cuban music lost an iconic figure this week.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB SONG, "EL CUARTO DE TULA")

CHANG: Buena Vista Social Club trumpeter Manuel Mirabal died on Monday.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Mirabal was born 30 miles outside of Havana, Cuba, in 1933. He was given the nickname El Guajiro, which roughly translates to country boy, by Puerto Rican singer Tito Gomez.

CHANG: Mirabal picked up the trumpet at 18 and didn't put it down for more than 70 years. He was a member of several prominent Cuban orchestras. Then in 1996, Buena Vista Social Club was born.

KELLY: The group, made of veteran Cuban musicians, released an album of the same name in 1997. It was an unlikely smash, as NPR once put it. The album catapulted them to worldwide acclaim, ultimately earned them a Grammy.

CHANG: Particularly notable was Mirabal's trumpet solos.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB SONG, "CHAN CHAN")

CHANG: Years later, Mirabal released his debut solo album, the Latin Grammy-nominated "Buena Vista Social Club Presents Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal."

KELLY: In a radio interview in 2000, Mirabal spoke about his relationship with his trumpet. He said he always had it with him, taking it apart, cleaning it and caring for it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MANUEL MIRABAL: (Speaking Spanish).

KELLY: Mirabal saying his wife and he joke that the trumpet is his first love, she's his second.

CHANG: Mirabal did not smoke or drink so he could stay in top form to play his trumpet, and he says it was a constant source of inspiration.

KELLY: When you play a solo, he told the interviewer, you express what comes to you. And that, he said, makes me happy.

CHANG: Mirabal was one of the last surviving members of the Buena Vista Social Club. He was 91.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EL RINCON CALIENTE")

MIRABAL: (Singing in Spanish). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Karen Zamora
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Tinbete Ermyas
[Copyright 2024 NPR]