Buena Vista Social Club Cuban trumpeter Mirabal has died at 91

Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal - trumpeter of the group Buena Vista Social Club - died at the age of 91, Euronews reported.

The Cuban Music Institute confirmed the news, saying Mirabal was "one of the greatest trumpeters in Cuba and the world" and that his death "represents a huge loss to Cuban music and culture."

Born on May 5, 1933 in Melena del Sur, about 50 km from the Cuban capital, Mirabal has been playing the trumpet for more than 70 years. He was a member of major Cuban orchestras such as Conjunto Rumbahabana, Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna and Riverside Orchestra.

In the late 1990s, Cuban star Juan de Marcos Gonzalez and American guitarist Ry Cooder convinced the former nightingales of the golden era of Cuban music to reunite and return to the scene. The album, recorded in 6 days and called Buena Vista Social Club after a private club in Havana, closed after the Cuban revolution, became a worldwide hit. It won a Grammy Award in 1998 and is the best-selling Cuban album of all time. | BGNES