Buena Vista Social Club guitarist Galban dies
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA -- Manuel Galban, a Grammy-winning Cuban guitarist who rose to
international fame as a member of the Buena Vista Social Club, has died
of a heart attack in Havana. He was 80.
An article in Communist Party newspaper Granma on Friday noted Galban's
passing the previous day and called him a "master of the guitar."
"It is a very sad day for Cuban music and fans of Cuban Music," said
Daniel Florestano, longtime manager of both Galban and the Buena Vista
Social Club, in a statement issued by Galban's publicist. "Galban's
enormous impact worldwide with his unique guitar sound and warm smile
will be missed by many."
Born in 1931 in Gibara, in the eastern province of Holguin, Galban made
his professional debut in 1944, according to the statement. In 1963 he
joined Los Zafiros, Spanish for "Sapphires," which fused styles as
varied as bolero, calypso and rock with Cuban "filin" music, which comes
from the word "feeling."
The group became one of the island's most popular until it disbanded in
1972.
Galban spent the next three years as head of Cuba's national music ensemble.
He then formed a group known as Batey, which performed throughout the
world "representing Cuba in numerous acts of solidarity," Granma said.
In the 1990s he became part of the Buena Vista Social Club project, a
group of elderly, sometimes retired, musicians who were living quietly
in Cuba before U.S. guitarist and producer Ry Cooder brought them together.
The album was an international smash hit and later the subject of a
documentary by filmmaker Wim Wenders.
In 2003 Galban teamed up with Cooder to record Mambo Sinuendo. It won a
Grammy the following year for best pop instrumental album.
Galban follows others from the Buena Vista Social Club who have already
died, including Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Cachaito
Lopez and vocalist Pio Leyva.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/08/2305391/buena-vista-social-club-guitarrist.html
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