Preview

Lutist embroiders a Cuban music sampler

People from as far away as Japan have knocked on Barbarito Torres' door in Havana asking the virtuoso lute player to teach them to play Cuba's 12-string version of the Arabian instrument.

Thanks to the success of the Buena Vista Social Club CD and documentary, Torres, one of the musicians who participated in the Grammy-winning project, is in demand. As the island's premier lutist, he is often performing abroad or collaborating in the studio with other Cuban music heavyweights. Monday, he and his eight-member conjunto stop in Ybor City for the second night of a three-month U.S. tour in support of his latest, self-titled release on the Havana Caliente label.

Buena Vista Social Club "has been the bridge for other types of Cuban music; it especially promoted traditional music and other music that was previously unheard of outside of Cuba," Torres said during a phone interview from his home.

Named for a private prerevolutionary nightclub in Havana's working-class Buena Vista suburb, the 1997 CD sold more than a million copies and ignited a worldwide craze for the Cuban sound, from classic son to contemporary timba. Veteran Cuban musicians such as pianist Ruben Gonzalez, the late singer Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo, among others, had been forgotten before Buena Vista Social Club jump-started their careers.

Torres, among the youngest in the group, benefited from the worldwide acclaim. His career took off, winning fans for the music he makes with his short-neck lute, an instrument similar to a flat-backed mandolin that sounds closer to a Puerto Rican cuatro.

In 1999 Torres debuted as a soloist with the release of Havana Cafe. He spent the next three years on a world tour and co-headlined with Portuondo and Cuban dance-music giants Los Van Van.

On his new album, Torres deftly encapsulates past and present. Representing the diversity of sounds emanating from Cuba today, his is an eclectic mix of rootsy musica guajira (Cuban country music), punctuated by delicate yet aggressive finger picking on the lute and uptempo sones with an urban edge. Torres continues to incorporate the lute, traditionally used in guajira music, in Cuban son and more contemporary styles.

"It's a very versatile album," Torres said. "For me it has always been a challenge, because this kind of music, which is very local, has been pigeonholed. I gave myself the task to introduce it to the world."

Legendary vocalist Pio Leyva, also of Buena Vista Social Club fame, is lead singer on the track Francisco Guayabal. Pedro Calvo, formerly of Los Van Van, sings a cha-cha-cha on A Buscar Mi Amor (To Find My Love). And Chucho Valdes, one of the best piano players anywhere, interprets an Ernesto Lecuona classic, La Comparsa.

"We're all very good friends," Torres said. "Imagine working with Chucho; it's like obtaining a degree in Cuban music. For me it was a great honor that he accepted to participate in this album. It was a dream come true for me."

Torres, who was born in Matanzas, grew up listening to guajira music and was playing the lute proficiently by age 10.

By 1970 he was entertaining professionally. Even during his military service, he played in the army's marching band and jazz orchestra. After Torres' discharge in 1976, he toured Cuba with Siembra Cultural, later renamed Grupo Yarabi, and settled in Havana as a session musician and member of the Cuban String Orchestra.

A major turning point in his career came when Celina Gonzalez, Cuba's queen of musica guajira, asked Torres to direct her band, Campo Alegre. In 1992 Torres set out on his own and founded Piquete Cubano, though he continued to accompany Gonzalez until 1995.

He is at once down-to-earth and ambitious. "I just want everybody to like this album and for my instrument to continue forging ahead," Torres said. "I want to hear it being played around the world, and I want my music to transcend and endure."

Barbarito Torres, 8 p.m. Monday, Twilight, 1507 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City. $15 advance, $18 day of show. (813) 247-4225.