Cuba-based band plays at White House - a first in 50 years

[Judi Lynn]

Cuba-based band plays at White House - a first in 50 years
Oct 15, 7:05 PM EDT
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The groovy sounds of a Cuba-based musical band wafted through the White House on Thursday for the first time in more than 50 years.

The Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club performed at a White House reception Thursday to mark Hispanic Heritage Month and the 25th anniversary of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

"It is wonderful to have you here. I was explaining to them that when the documentary about the Buena Vista Social Club came out, I was told it was around 1998, I bought a CD," said President Barack Obama, who asked the audience to "give it up" for the group.

The White House said Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club was the first Cuba-based musical act to perform under its roof in more than five decades. The appearance came amid warming relations between the U.S. and Cuba, Cold War foes whose leaders surprised the world nearly a year ago with the announcement that they were restoring diplomatic relations after more than a half-century of animosity.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_BUENA_VISTA_SOCIAL_CLUB?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-10-15-19-05-55

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141234737

[Judi Lynn]

1. Band From Cuba Plays the White House With 1940s Havana Rhythms

Band From Cuba Plays the White House With 1940s Havana Rhythms
6:44 pm ET
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis

For a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon, the ornate East Room of the White House – normally the backdrop for buttoned-up presidential statements and protocol-steeped official events – pulsed with the rhythms of a 1940s Havana club.

The Orquestra Buena Vista Social Club, a descendant of the 1990s Cuban band that was many Americans’ first exposure to Cuban music of decades past, performed at a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on Thursday, the first time a musical group from the island nation has appeared at the White House in more than half a century.

“We’re thrilled to have them here,” President Obama said. “For nearly two decades, this group has been a symbol of the strong bonds between the American and Cuban people – bonds of friendship and culture and, of course, music.”

It was the latest sign of the thaw that Mr. Obama and President Raùl Castro of Cuba set in motion in December when they agreed to normalize relations between Washington and Havana and restore diplomatic ties severed in 1961.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/10/15/band-from-cuba-plays-the-white-house-with-1940s-havana-rhythms/

[malokvale77]

2. I've been listening to them for years.

I'm so glad to see this in my lifetime.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Amazing artists, aren't they? So complete, and gracious, as well. Same here, can't believe it.

Seems almost like a dream.

They must feel so special being the first guests from Cuba like this! So cool.

[malokvale77]

4. So cool indeed.

I give President Obama a big on this.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Wonderful musicians! So great to see them honored here!

Thanks for posting it!