Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer was buried on Monday as fans mourned the passing of the Buena Vista Social Club crooner, who died just days after coming back from a tour in Europe.
About 200 relatives and friends attended the simple but evocative ceremony at Havana’s Colon cemetery, during which Ferrer’s bolero Mil congojas (One thousand sorrows) played in the background.
Ferrer (78) died on Saturday a few days after checking into hospital with symptoms of gastroenteritis.
Cuban officials and fellow musicians earlier on Monday filed past his coffin in Havana’s largest funeral home.
”We have lost something glorious,” said Buena Vista Social Club guitarist Manuel Galvan.
”Ibrahim had the same voice he had when we listened to him in his youth. I don’t know how he was able to conserve his voice so clear like that, so clear,” Galvan said.
Ferrer’s recent tour took him to France, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Britain.
Ferrer was in semi-retirement and shining shoes for money when he was recruited to participate in the ”Buena Vista Social Club” sessions.
US musician and producer Ry Cooder traveled to Havana in the late 1990s to unite ageing greats of Cuban music, producing a CD and later a documentary film with German director Wim Wenders to worldwide acclaim.
The album won a Grammy in 1997, and in 2004, Ferrer won a Grammy for best traditional salsa album for his Buenos Hermanos. But Ferrer was unable to attend the ceremony because the United States refused to grant him a visa.
Ferrer was born on February 20, 1927, in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba, a region known for its musical tradition. – Sapa-AFP