Buena Vista Social Club to play city on midsummer night

The brainchild of American slide guitarist Cooder - who played with Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band and on The Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers - the Buena Vista Social Club took the world by storm when they came together in Cuba in 1996.

Since then they have taken their unique blend of Cuban son, guajira, salsa, jazz, Afro Cuban rhythms, soaring vocal melodies and brash big band sounds around the world.

Eliades Ochoa from the original Buena Vista line-up - who also featured on 2010’s Afrocubism with renowned Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté - and the first lady of Cuban music, Omara Portuondo, help make up the 14-piece Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club which has been enthralling audience across Europe since going on tour last year.

They have played sell-outs in the Royal Albert Hall, Barcelona’s Liceu and the Konzerthaus in Vienna.

Each of the musicians has their own take on a wide range of Cuban music styles and has put an individual stamp on the music. Their passion for the music remains undimmed and they perform with an exuberance which keeps their music as fresh as ever.

The Buena Vista Social Club album has sold more than eight million around the globe, the best-selling album in Cuban history. One critic describes it as: “World music’s equivalent of Dark Side of the Moon”.

Tickets for Buena Vista Social Club at The Venue 2013 on Friday 21 June are on sale priced £15 including booking fee, at the City of Culture Box Office at www.millenniumforum.co.uk.

Music City on the summer solstice promises to be one of the most memorable days of 2013, celebrating music of all genres right across the city.

The whole city will become a stage as musicians, amateur and professional, take to the stage and the streets with hundreds of free musical performances on the streets, in workplaces and neighbourhoods