Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, Quinto, and… and… Sixto, ahhhh… And the sixth time was a charm (not that the first five weren’t), and Sixto Diaz (Jesus) Rodriguez came into this world on July 10, 1942, the sixth son of Mexican immigrants working in war-time Detroit, more than three years before atomic bombs would fall on Japan and twenty-five years before rockets would land men on the moon. No one would have predicted that his life would have been easy, but no one would have predicted that
It all started as a bit of an accident. A big fan of Cuban music, American guitarist Ry Cooder had been invited to Cuba to work on a collaboration with local musicians and two well-known musical stars from Mali. When the Africans were denied entry visas to Cuba, Cooder set about creating his Plan B: A recording of Cuban son music with local musicians.
A Star is Born
The resulting album, recorded in only six days, included the title track Buena Vista Social Club and was released to critical acclaim
