Buena Vista Social Club released its only studio album, produced by Ry Cooder, in 1997 and achieved instant success. The album, featuring a specially assembled group of veteran Cuban musicians, was further propelled by Wim Wenders’ acclaimed film and later by a series of international tours and albums by many of the featured musicians. Buena Vista Social Club became a phenomenon. Joining this expanded lineup of Cuban players is vocalist Omara Portuondo, a member of the original Buena Vista Social Club, whose 2008 recording Gracias (World Village/Montuno) won a Latin Grammy and scored a Grammy nomination. Portuondo has been singing and performing since she was a teenager in Cuba in the 1940s but, as The New York Times review of Gracias noted, the years have done nothing to diminish her vocal prowess: “Her voice is rich, shapely, dynamic and still sultry.” The Los Angeles Times described her voice as “a formidably potent and emotionally limber instrument,” and noted that “her 100 minute set in San Francisco showed that she’s an even bigger talent onstage.”