Eighth Critical Review

"Buena Vista Social Club versus La Charanga Habanera: The Politics of Cuban Rhythm" by Robert Neustadt

Neustadt begins by stating the impact BVSC has had on "most people's" perception of Cuban music. He contrasts it with the number one album in Cuba at the time, Tremendo, by La Charanga Habanera. Interestingly, Neustadt emphasizes that he is not interested in arbitrating authenticity, but instead in using these two albums and the response to them to draw conclusions about Cuban identity. He argues that LCH's music, timba, is a direct descendant of the son on BVSC. He defends timba by pointing out that son can also have sexually charged, misogynistic lyrics. And he seems to have a critical attitude towards the "BVSC phenomenon." I find it somewhat strange that he compares Ry Cooder and Nick Gold to men who travel to Cuba for the prostitution industry. It's an effective image but I'm unconvinced that it was necessary. He concludes the article by restating the role of son and timba in the lives of Cubans on the island. Despite his claim that he is not interested in arguing that one album is more "authentic" that the other, I think we can definitely see Neustadt making negative value judgments about BVSC and regarding LCH much more positively, although these judgments do seem to fit in with his point that these two albums represent two very different conceptions of Cuban identity. Unfortunately, in my mind he fails to adequately establish how these two different identities "are performing competing images of Cuban and worldbeat Cuban identity."

Discussion Question: Do Neustadt's value judgments (if you see any) help or hurt his point that La Charanga Habanera and Buena Vista Social Club represent two different images of Cuban identity?