6:45pm Auditorium doors and boxes open
7:30pm Eliades Ochoa
8:45pm interval
9:10pm Buena Vista Social Club: Adios
11:00pm ends

The former Buena Vista Social Club™ frontman makes his solo debut at The Royal Albert Hall leading his own band. Known as “Mr Chan Chan” in his hometown of Santiago de Cuba, in recent years he has combined performing with his own Grupo Patria with his role as a principal performer in the worldwide sold-out Adiós Tour with Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club.  His unique guitar and vocal style has made him a champion of the string and percussion driven son sound of Cuban country music.

Throughout his career he has collaborated with numerous groups including Septetos Cubanos, Casa de la Trova and Cuarteto Patria, with which he also recorded several albums. Ochoa has won many Latin Grammy nominations and awards, and performed for the Obamas at the White House.

Eliades was born on June 22, 1946, in Loma de la Avispa (Santiago de Cuba province), eastern Cuba. He played the first notes on his guitar at the age of six, and at twelve he walked around town singing what he had learned on the radio. He has always defended traditional Cuban music, becoming a faithful exponent and representative of Son, Bolero and Guaracha.

His albums include Sublime Illusion (1999) with Ry Cooder and Cuarteto Patria; Eliades Ochoa and El Cuarteto Patria, (2000), followed a year later by Cuidadito Compay Gallo and in 2002 by Estoy Como Nunca. In October 2010 he released AfroCubism, for which Grupo Patria and Eliades collaborated with musicians from Mali such as Toumani Diabate, Bassekou Kouyate and Kasse Mady Diabate. In November of that same year he embarked on a world tour to present AfroCubism. In 2011 he recorded his new album A Bolero for You and continues to perform concerts in Cuba and around the world.

‘The finest guitarist of his generation.’ The Guardian

‘A Cuban troubadour thrills the world stage.’ Los Angeles Times

Eliades’ set is followed by a rare screening of the new Buena Vista Social Club: Adios (PG), a documentary directed by Lucy Walker including footage from the White House performance for Barack Obama and the group’s farewell tour.