Discography
98 releases – 43 under his own name, 44 in other groups and 11 credits on others' music Edit
- Show everything (98)
- Released as Ry Cooder (43)
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In other groups (44)
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Credits on others' music (11)
- Tracks on others' music (43)
Has worked with
Has been in these groups
Has this family
In the News
Connecting Cultures Through Music
Nov, 2 2010
In 1996, World Circuit Records owner Nick Gold and his co-producer Ry Cooder traveled to Havana with the intention of teaming musicians from Mali with local Cuban artists to make a record exploring the musical links between the two cultures.
But the Cuban embassy lost the Africans' passports and the project was scratched. With studio time booked, Cooder and Gold decided to record the Cubans and the result was Buena Vista Social Club, which has sold millions of copies worldwide and was listed in 2003 by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
This happy accident is not dissimilar from banjo-player Bela Fleck’s Throw Down your Heart, the 2009 project wherein Fleck traced the lineage of the banjo to its African roots. He traveled to Uganda, Mali, Tanzania and Gambia to capture the sights and sounds of African music.
Several musicians were featured in both projects, linking Africa’s musical heritage to Latin America’s and the west's.
Fourteen years later Gold and Cooder have finally recorded the album they intended, AfroCubism. Kora player Toumani Diabate, who also appeared on Fleck’s album, said "My dream since I was young was to open a new door for African music… to bring this music out of Mali and meet other cultures with it.” With music as the lingua franca, it appears these musicians are bringing their dreams to fruition.
