Manuel “Guajiro” Mirabal, the renowned Cuban trumpet player from the Buena Vista Social Club, passed away in Havana on Monday, as confirmed by the Cuban Music Institute. He was 91 years old.
Mirabal is celebrated as one of the greatest trumpet players both in Cuba and internationally, with his passing marking a significant loss for Cuban music and culture, according to a post on the institute’s Facebook page.
His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Havana.
Born on May 5, 1933, in Melena del Sur, Mayabeque province, Mirabal launched his musical career in 1951 and played the trumpet for over seven decades. He was part of notable Cuban orchestras, including the Conjunto Rumbavana and the Orquesta Riverside, but it was his role in the Buena Vista Social Club that solidified his fame.
Founded in 1996, Buena Vista Social Club brought together veteran Cuban musicians, some of whom had faded into obscurity, thanks to the efforts of Cuban star Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, World Circuit’s Nick Gold, and American guitarist Ry Cooder.
The project became a landmark in Cuban music, resulting in the Grammy Award-winning album “Buena Vista Social Club,” which remains the best-selling Cuban album of all time. A documentary by German filmmaker Wim Wenders, also titled “Buena Vista Social Club,” was nominated for an Oscar in 2000.
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