Barbarito Torres

One of the many unforgettable musical moments on The Buena Vista Social Club album is “Barbarito” Torres’ laúd solo on “El Cuarto de Tula.” The laúd is a 12-string instrument of the lute family, emitting, especially on its high register, a piercing, metallic tone that is perfect for fast, single-note improvising. Torres approaches his solos with a perfect balance of precision and passion. On “El Cuarto de Tula,” a song about a fire destroying a woman named Tula’s house (and that serves as an extended double-entendre for sexual passion), he attacks the laúd so fiercely that Eliades Ochoa is prompted to exclaim on the recording, “¡Se volvió loco Barbarito!” (Barbarito has gone mad!). Torres has played with most of the legends of Cuban music, as well as international stars like Venezuela’s Oscar de León.