Eliades Ochoa (original member of Buena Vista Social Club) - New album 'Guajro' out now - Hear/watch new single feat. Rubén Blades
ELIADES OCHOA (ORIGINAL MEMBER OF BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB)
LATEST ALBUM ‘GUAJIRO’ OUT TODAY
FEATURING JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN, CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
NEW SINGLE ‘PAJARITO VOLÓ’ FEATURING RUBÉN BLADES
PREMIERES TODAY WITH OFFICIAL VIDEO
TOUR DATES INCLUDE MANCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND
AND LONDON KOKO HEADLINE 29TH OCTOBER
Eliades Ochoa, the legendary Cuban guitarist and singer and original member of Buena Vista Social Club, releases his new album ‘Guajiro’ today via World Circuit, on CD & digital formats. The LP vinyl format will follow on June 9th. Produced by Demetrio Muñiz and featuring guests Rubén Blades, Joan As Police Woman and Charlie Musselwhite, ‘Guajiro’ cements his reputation as one of the most vital artists to come out of Cuba in the last century.
STREAM THE FULL ALBUM NOW
The album release coincides with a brand new single penned by Ochoa, ‘Pajarito Voló’ (translating as ‘Little Bird Flew’), which features guest vocals from award-winning Panamanian superstar singer, musician and activist, Rubén Blades. The single is accompanied by a new video, telling the second chapter of a two-part love story, focusing on a woman who escapes the confines of her relationship to fly to a life of new-found freedom.
Of the new single, Eliades comments, “When I talk about Rubén Blades, I feel close to him. I am an admirer of his work and I identify with him because we both started as village musicians. He has a genuine sense of rhythm and reinvents himself over the years without losing his musical essence. I am very proud of this collaboration in which we open the cage together so that the little bird can fly free.”
Rubén Blades said: “It is an honour for me to have been invited by Eliades Ochoa to participate in his project. I admire, respect and have great affection for him, as a person and as a colleague, and for this reason this recording is special to me. Eliades gave me a ‘tres cubano’ a while ago, one of my most beloved instruments. Thank you Maestro Eliades, for your talent, honesty and friendship, and may the successes continue!”
LISTEN TO 'PAJARITO VOLÓ' HERE
WATCH VIDEO HERE
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The album release follows recent singles ‘Creo En La Naturaleza’, written by Eliades himself and featuring American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joan As Police Woman, and the classic Puerto Rican plena ‘Se Soltó Un Leon’, the video for which tells part one of the two-part love story, centring on a man who isn’t ready to commit.
WATCH 'SE SOITÓ UN LEON' HERE
Ochoa will tour ‘Guajiro’ throughout 2023 across the world, including upcoming shows at Manchester Jazz Festival in May, and a headline at London’s Koko on October 29th.
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The rugged features, the signature hat, the cowboy boots and the iconic ‘man in black’ image… The songs from the school of life imbued with the sort of hard-earned, country-tinged wisdom that can’t be bought. You don’t have to look or listen too hard to understand why Eliades Ochoa is often called ‘Cuba’s Johnny Cash’. Yet if parallels abound, his new album Guajiro also shows him to be a singular voice with his own unique style and sound, rooted deep in Cuban tradition but with an appeal that is as timeless as it is universal.
Back in 1997 when he shot to international recognition as a member of the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club, Eliades was the young gun. True, he was by then in his 50th year and had already been leading Cuba’s leading band Cuarteto Patria for 18 years - but he was still in the flush of youth compared to legendary veterans Compay Segundo and Ibrahim Ferrer, who had been playing since before he was born and with whom he duetted unforgettably on classic songs such as “Chan Chan” and “Candela”.
A quarter of a century later, Eliades is now the veteran with a legendary back story of his own and Guajiro presents Eliades as we’ve never heard him before. The songs on Guajiro – most of which are his own compositions – are the most intimate and personal Eliades has ever recorded. “The album tells a lot about me and my history,” he says. “It’s really the story of my life and each song has a lot of meaning.”
In making Guajiro he called upon an array of sympathetic collaborators. Producer Demetrio Muñiz represents a direct link to Buena Vista, having acted for many years as the musical director of the touring band that spun off from the original project. But others are drawn from far beyond the shores of Cuban music, including the Mississippi blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, Fania All-Stars legend Rubén Blades and indie-rock auteur Joan Wasser, who records as Joan As Police Woman. “It’s different from the albums I’ve done before, taking me outside my comfort zone”, Eliades notes. “I’ve been playing traditional son cubano for many years and at this point in my life I wanted to do something a little different - and I’ve always loved collaborating and being open to other rhythms and working with different artists.”
With the release of Guajiro, he adds a new and revealing chapter that weaves together all the threads and strands of his storied life and career into a definitive and compelling personal testament that honours his past while ambitiously taking his music into pastures new.
‘GUAJIRO’ TRACKLIST
1.Vamos a Alegrar el Mundo
2. Soy Guajiro
3. Creo en la Naturaleza (feat. Joan As Police Woman)
4. Pajarito Voló (feat. Rubén Blades)
5. Ando Buscando una Novia
6. Abrazo de Luz
7. Anita Tun Tun Tun
8. Canto Para Ti Guajira
9. Se Soltó Un León
10. West (feat. Charlie Musselwhite)
11. Loso Ejes de Mi Carreta
ELIADES OCHOA’S ‘GUAJIRO’ TOUR
May 28th – Manchester, UK – Manchester Jazz Festival
May 31st – Paris, FR – Le Trianon
June 2nd – Bergen, NO – Natjazz
June 16th – Chiasso, CH – Festate
June 20th – Bloemendaal, NL - Caprera
June 23rd – Essaouira, Morocco – Essaouira Festival
July 2nd – Malaga, ES – Teatro Cervantes
July 6th – Rudolstadt, DE – Rudolstadt Festival
July 13th – Pisa, IT – MusicaStrada Festival
July 15th – Pesaro, IT – Lonely Planet UlisseFest
July 22nd – Chanac, FR – Festival Détours du Monde
July 25th – Riga, LV – Green Theatre Mezaparks
July 29th – Sète, FR – Fiest’A Sète
August 10th – Segovia, ES – Noches Magicas de La Granja
October 29th – London, UK – Koko
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