Fans of the Buena Vista Social Club (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) will be thrilled to hear this brilliant never-before-heard tune from the late great Ibrahim Ferrer.
It’s one of four new tunes from the original recording sessions for the Cuban maestro’s landmark second album, Buenos Hermanos, about to be reissued by World Circuit in a special new edition, remixed and remastered by producer Ry Cooder, with new artwork, photos and liner notes.
An elegant and emotional bolero – the style Ferrer became famous for – Ojos Malvados (‘Wicked Eyes’) was composed by Cristina Saladrigas, one of the few women in the early days of traditional Cuban ‘trova’, and features Buena Vista alumni Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Manuel Galbán and Angá Díaz, as well as Joachim Cooder on drums.
A global hit, aided by the success of the 1999 film Buena Vista Social Club and accompanying album, it earned Ferrer a Grammy – but he was unable to collect it because the US government would not let him into the country. He died in Havana in 2005.
Producer Ry Cooder has now gone back to the original tapes to re-mix the whole album, adding four previously unheard tracks from the original album sessions, including recent single Ven Conmigo Guajira (losten here), arranging them in a brand new sequence.

The reimagined version of the album also has refreshed cover artwork, featuring an alternative photograph from the original album shoot by Christien Jaspars. As well as digital formats, the release will be available as a CD casebound book and 180g heavyweight double vinyl, with both packages including English and Spanish lyrics, and a new foreword from Ry Cooder.
All words by Tim Cooper. You can find more of Tim’s writing on Louder Than War at his author’s archive. He is also on Twitter as @TimCooperES.
BUENOS HERMANOS SPECIAL EDITION REISSUE IS RELEASED ON 28 FEBRUARY ON WORLD CIRCUIT RECORDS