Eliades Ochoa from Buena Vista Social Club

Eliades Ochoa once toured the world with the legendary Buena Vista Social Club; today, the singer, guitarist and songwriter is himself regarded as one of Cuba’s most significant artists. With the music from his latest album, Guajiro, he brings a nostalgic Latin flair to the Festspielhaus.

Ever since the international success of the Buena Vista Social Club in the late 1990s, fans worldwide have been captivated by Cuban music such as son, danzón, bolero and guajira. Building on this revival, Eliades Ochoa captivates the audience with his songs rooted in traditional Son Cubano, which speak of the life experience of a mature artist. Added to this is his striking appearance: a face marked by the school of life, a characteristic hat, cowboy boots and black clothing. It is not for nothing that Ochoa is also known as “Cuba’s Johnny Cash”. He has not forgotten his roots: Yo soy guajiro (“I am a country boy”) is the title of one of his songs, which tells of Ochoa’s childhood in the countryside. “Now it feels like the right time for me to tell my stories,” he says.

At the age of 50, Eliades Ochoa was one of the younger members of the Buena Vista Social Club. The project played a key role in raising his international profile, yet Ochoa had already enjoyed success as a musician prior to the Buena Vista Social Club – notably with the famous song ‘Chan Chan’, which had already established his career on the Cuban music scene. In 2012, he won a Grammy for his album Un Bolero para Ti.