Buena Vista Social Club: The “trobeta” of the legendary band, Manuel “Wahiro” Miraval died

The famous Cuban musician Manuel “Waahiro” Miraval, the trumpet player of the band Buena Vista Social Club, died yesterday Monday (28/10/24) in Havana at the age of 91, announced the Cuban music institute. Miraval “is considered one of Cuba’s most important trumpet players and the world” and his death is a “great loss to Cuban music and culture,” the institute said via Facebook. “Thanks for everything dear friend” was the reaction of the diva of the band Buena Vista Social Club, Omara Puerto, via the same social networking site. She referred to her “favorite brother”, “great friend, great musician, great man”. The singer, 94, famous for her warm voice, announced in early October that she is ending her artistic career. Born 5 May 1933 in Melena del Sur, some fifty kilometers from the capital of Cuba, he began his musical career in 1951 and continued to play his trumpet for over 70 years. He was a member of the most important Cuban orchestras, such as Conjunto Rumbahabana and Riverside Orchestra, but was his participation in the Buena Vista Social Club that contributed to gaining world fame. See this post on Instagram. Most of the members of this band have now left life, among them Ibrahim Ferrer (2005), Kobay Segundo (2003) and Rouven Gonzalez (2003). In late 1990, Cuban star Juan de Marcos Gonzales, World Circuit’s Nick Gold and American guitarist Ry Couder persuaded the old glory of the golden era of the Cuban scene to join and return to the stage, some returning from retirement. The album they recorded within just six days and was baptized Buena Vista Social Club by the name of Havana’s private club, which closed its doors after the Cuban revolution, gave huge worldwide success to its contributors. He won a prize. Grammy in 1998 and is the Cuban music album with the greatest sales of all time. The adventure of Cuban music stars was immortalized in the film of German director Vim Wenders.