"You go to Cuba now and every band in every hotel is playing repertoire from the record," he says. "You overhear tourists saying: `Let's go find the Buena Vista Social Club.' You also hear a lot more music - there are two more studios there and more live shows.
"Musicians are looking back at this style of music, and more modern bands are seeing the continuity rather than rejecting it out of hand. The quality of musicianship on the island is extraordinary - you could be doing a recording session and suddenly you need a trombone player and there's one around to the studio who is as good, if not better, than the one you had. There's no ego involved; they all play their bit."
Certainly, ego had little to do with the recording sessions which produced the album. While the musicians may have heard of each other prior to the project, it was the first time many of them had played together. "What I remember is that the recording sessions were very pleasant," says Ferrer. "I thought to be working on songs from the 1940s and 1950s was very rewarding, because we have always had that kind of music in our repertoire. It was a very good feeling to find ourselves together in a recording studio, not knowing it would become such a successful record. It was a lovely gathering for all of us, musicians, interpreters. It was like finding old friends."
There was little inkling then of what was to come. Nick Gold recalls not having any massive expectations for the record. "I mean, when we listened to the music at the time, we knew something extraordinary was happening, but we had no idea that this phenomenon would come of it," he says.
The director of the documentary, Wim Wenders, recalled in a 1999 interview that even winning a Grammy in 1998 did not have an effect. "It just didn't mean much for the musicians themselves; they didn't really understand what was happening. They realised the music was popular, but it hadn't started to change their lives in any way, so we were privileged to make this film with them at a time when their lives were not upside down because of the music's success. "It wasn't until they stood on the stage in Amsterdam or later in Carnegie Hall that they realised the dream of their lifetime had come true, so to speak."
There's little doubt the musicians thrive on the opportunity they have been given. Ferrer explains that many of the musicians were not working as much prior to the album, but "now, of course, the touring doesn't stop". It's not a complaint, because here is one group who have no intention of stopping.
"We do not get travel-sick," says Portuondo. "So we are going to keep going round and round as long as we can. Life has given us this chance to do these wonderful things, so we are going to keep them alive as long as we can. We still have energy and the wish to do it, and we are happy with it."
T THE success has also provided an opportunity to make solo records. In fact, there has been a veritable avalanche of releases, with solo albums from all three touring stars as well as Compay Segundo and Eliades Ochoa, plus forthcoming albums from Cachaito Lopez, Jesus Aguaje Ramos and Guajiro Mirabel. Many also still pine for a second collective release, but Nick Gold doesn't see this happening, for a number of reasons.
"When we recorded, obviously all the musicians were available, but since the success, a lot of them are doing their own projects," he says. "Compay was already signed to Warners, Eliades is signed to Virgin and we [World Circuit] have signed various other artists, so there's a question of logistics. I wonder, though, if it would be a good idea to bring them back together. It was a unique one-off; there was a chemistry there which would be difficult to recreate."
You can see this chemistry in the live shows and even in the way in which Ferrer and Portuondo can finish each other's sentences. Perhaps the trick is not to look for the reason behind this project, or to hope for a repeat, but simply to enjoy it for what it is. After all, it seems to be what the musicians themselves are doing.
"You know that this is not only a matter of musicians and interpreters; it is a united effort," says Portuondo. "It is where different elements mix, like the talent of the producers, of the recording engineers, of the musicians, of the people that mix the record, of those who distribute it to the world. It is the work of many people. It's about people and it's about music. And that is the winning mix."
The Buena Vista Social Club, featuring Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez and Omara Portuondo, play Smithfield Market, Dublin, on May 5th. The concert is already sold out.