…
But, finally, it
has to be said
that what got
recorded is
whatever got
recorded. I
didn’t do too
much directing.
What I would say
is, “Stop
talking and
let’s play. You
guys like to talk
and you like to
discuss and argue,
but we’d better
keep this going if
we can. Let’s
see if we can get
a sound momentum
…”
…
Then, we went
looking for the
club -- as you see
in the film --
and, well it
wasn’t there any
more and nobody
could agree on
where it had been
in the first
place. It was
here, it was
there. Buena Vista
used to be a
neighborhood up on
a hillside above
the town where
there were nice
breezes and it was
cool and pleasant.
It was quite
beautiful. I
don’t have any
idea where it was,
but everybody
swears they know
…
 …
People say, “Oh
you knew this was
going to
happen,” and I
say, “Are you
kidding me?”
Find me one
reason why this
would have been
popular; there’s
no logic. It’s
just that it’s
great, and
everybody picked
up on it …
…
If
you’re taught to
hate and fear a
people or a
country and it
works, it’s
because or your
ignorance of that
country. You have
no contact with
it, nor do you
know what you're
hating and
fearing. Then you
have to say, after
listening to this
music, who is it
you are afraid of?
Are you afraid of
Rubén? He
frightens you?
He’s a threat to
you? Come on!…
…
What we don’t
see or hear too
much of anymore is
this bolero
quality, this
gauzy kind of
transparent inward
voice that he has,
because that’s
the kind of guy he
is. He’s an
inward man, he’s
not a showman like
Compay. He’s not
an actor so much,
he’s just a
zenned-out
character
...
Los
Zafiros 
Los Zafiros was
not typically
Cuban, it wasn’t
typically
anything. They
were just a bunch
of bad boys from
the Cayo Hueso
neighborhood –
low-riders we
would have known
them as -- vatos
loco, and
rough characters.
So they sing in
this kind of
low-rider-of-the-times
style, which is an
American East
Coast R&B
mixed with Cuban.
It’s incredible.
You would want
something like
this to exist …
…
…
Ibrahim and Omara
are very good
together. Their
singing is
complimentary
because her voice
has a certain
lower mass as a
woman’s voice,
and his voice has
a certain lack of
mass, higher for a
man. Where you
might be used to
hearing the man in
the melody and the
woman in the
harmony, they can
flip it around and
it gives it a kind
of unique harmonic
quality …
…
So I said to him
(Wim Wenders) in
passing, casually,
“We’ve just
done this thing,
it’s interesting
Cuban music. I
don’t want say
too much but check
it out and see
what you think.”
It had occurred to
me that if we
didn’t get this
documented on film
-- the people and
the place, the
process of doing
this music that we
had seen -- that
we would be
missing the boat
…
…
The beautiful
moment everybody
reflects on is
Ibrahim and Omara
singing
“Silencio” and
dancing on stage.
Spontaneity like
that was just
responding and
being Cubans. The
whole thing was
incredible …
 …
Joachim was 18
when we did this
record and I think
back to when I was
that age and I
started to hang
around some blues
players and some
hillbillies, and
it made all the
difference. You
then have a kind
of understanding
that makes you
able to
communicate and to
produce the
essence that
I’ve been
talking about, the
thing that makes
the music
wonderful and
makes it live …
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