Member of a Growing Club

The Buena Vista Social Club has been buenas noticias--good news--indeed for Eliades Ochoa.

The veteran singer-guitarist, like many of his fellow participants in the Ry Cooder-produced album and film celebrating Cuba’s traditional music and musicians, has released an album with his group and is now touring the U.S. He and his Cuarteto Patria play tonight at the Galaxy in Santa Ana.

“I heard an announcement on the radio about recording with a very famous North American musician,” said Ochoa, recalling the genesis of the Cooder project that became a worldwide sensation. “We had a wonderful time, but none of us ever suspected we would end up winning a Grammy for it.”

It was, in fact, Ochoa’s idea to record two of the album’s most powerful songs, “De Camino a la Vereda” and “Candela.”

His own album, “Sublime Ilusion,” like the “Buena Vista Social Club” project, resurrects vintage guarachas, sones and boleros. But Ochoa’s sound is more sparse, and guitarist Cooder’s contribution is limited to one song here.

Like the other Cuban veterans who have become part of this impromptu movement, Ochoa has benefited strongly from being signed to a hip record company.

The cover photo for “Sublime Ilusion” was shot by celebrated rock photographer Anton Corbijn, who did U2’s “Joshua Tree” album cover, among many others. And the music video for the single “Pintate los Labios Maria” is a wonderful mixture of cartoons and live action, created by Cuba’s foremost animator, Juan Padron.

On a Sunday morning at the Studio City motel where he and his band are staying, Ochoa, who still lives in Santiago de Cuba, projected the image of a soft-spoken man whose words are loaded with the same country wisdom that defines his music.

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“I am no musicologist,” he said when asked to explain the power of the son and other Cuban dance music. “I only know that the roots of this music are very deep in my country.

“Sometimes I think we should find a scientist to explain why the region of Santiago de Cuba gave birth to such a tasty song [format],” he continued. “I know that it is a land where there’s plenty of earthquakes, the sun always shines very bright, people drink a lot of rum. . . . Maybe all those elements together can explain why our music is so special.”

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Ochoa has also experimented with other Latin genres. Perhaps his record’s most daring track is a bolero version of the Argentine tango “Volver.”

“From the moment I opened my eyes and found myself in this strange world we live in, I’ve been listening to tangos,” said Ochoa, who’s in his early 50s. “I decided to do ‘Volver’ as a bolero, because I am Cuban and the bolero was invented in Cuba. I thought it was a way to infuse the song with more sweetness and love. I would never have attempted to sing a tango the traditional way. It would have been a disappointment.”

Ochoa’s rootsy approach and the revivalist movement he represents contrast starkly with most music made in Cuba today, where a hyper-aggressive style known as timba dominates the repertoire of popular bands such as Los Van Van and Bamboleo.

“Nothing is harmful as long as there’s a medicine that cures it,” Ochoa said. “And traditional Cuban music goes above all these new styles. We continue singing about the beauty of life. The son has always carried with it a message of love and illusion.”

* Eliades Ochoa y Cuarteto Patria and Joaquim Cooder play at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. 8 tonight. $17.50-$19.50. (714) 957-0600.