Rhythms del Mundo is a collaborative album, which fuses an all-star cast of Cuban musicians including Ibrahim Ferrerand Omara Portuondo of the Buena Vista Social Club with tracks from US, UK and Irish artists such as Dido, Arctic Monkeys, U2, Coldplay, Sting, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and others.
The main recording sessions took place in Havana at Abdala Studios. While the majority of the vocals remain the same, the musicians of the Buena Vista Social Club reworked the original orchestration from each song and created something utterly unique, casting their trademark mastery over each track. Rhythms Del Mundo includes restructured tracks such as “Clocks” by Coldplay, “Better Together” by Jack Johnson, “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5, “High and Dry” by Radiohead, “Dancing Shoes” by Arctic Monkeys and “Modern Way” by Kaiser Chiefs, as well as other popular songs.
Rhythms Del Mundo also includes music by famed Cuban singers Omara Portuondo and the last vocal recording of Afro-Cuban bolero singer, Ibrahim Ferrer. The other Cuban musicians from The Buena Vista Social Club who perform on this album are as follows: Barbarito Torres, Amadito Valdés, Virgilio Valdes, Angel Terri Domech, Manuel “Guajiro” Mirabal, Orlando “Cachaíto” López and Demetrio Muniz. This project is the brainchild and concept of Kenny Young and the Berman Brothers. They produced the 16 new original recordings on the CD.
