Nick Gold is a British record producer, multi-instrumentalist and music executive. He is the former CEO of

World Circuit Records The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

and the organiser of

Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club was a musical ensemble primarily made up of Cuban musicians, formed in 1996. The project was organized by World Circuit (record label), World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and dire ...

, a Cuban musical ensemble which he established in 1996. Gold is a two time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winner. In 2006, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described him as a "Musical Matchmaker".

Biography

Gold's parents were TV and film director

Jack Gold Jacob M. Gold (28 June 1930 – 9 August 2015) was a British film and television director. He was part of the British realist tradition which followed the Free Cinema movement. Career Jacob M. Gold was born on 28 June 1930, in North Lond ...

and actress

Denyse Alexander Denyse Alexander (born 28 June 1931) is a British stage, film and television actress. She was married to the film and television director Jack Gold from 1957 until his death in August 2015. Selected filmography Film roles * '' Orders to Kill' ...

. Gold graduated from the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

with a degree in African history; prior to graduation he began his career by working in a jazz record store in London where he learnt about Arts Worldwide, run by Anne Hunt and Mary Farquharson, which organised British concerts tours for musicians from Latin America and Africa. The organisation went on to create a record company to produce recordings to cater for the demand from audiences. The organization hired Gold to run the label and he was tasked with finding a recording studio and producer for Kenyan musical group, Shiratti Jazz. According to the ''New York Times'', this was his first visit to a recording studio and his first glimpse of a

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

. In the early 1990s, Gold bought the organization and took over. Gold invited American musician

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

and Malian guitarist

Ali Farka Touré Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré (31 October 1939 – 6 March 2006) was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist, and one of the African continent's most internationally renowned musicians. His music blends traditional Malian music and its deriv ...

to London where they played together and decided to collaborate in the future. In 1996, Gold planned to fly two Malian musicians to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

to record with Ry Cooder and a group of Cuban musicians, as an exploration of

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...

culture. However, the Malian musicians could not reach Cuba because they were denied the necessary visas. Gold went on to gather Cuban musicians from different performing backgrounds to create the Buena Vista Social Club. Gold produced the 1984 Grammy award-winning album ''Cherie'' by

, and co-produced the 1996 studio album ''

''. Gold is also noted for his production, engineering and coordination credits on

Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; 10 August 1965 – 19 July 2024) was a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he was involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styl ...

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Afro-Cuban All Stars Afro-Cuban All Stars is a Cuban band led by Juan de Marcos González. Their music is a mix of all the styles of Cuban music, including bolero, chachachá, salsa, son montuno, timba, guajira, danzón, rumba and abakua. They are known internati ...

Afel Bocoum Afel Bocoum (born 1955) is a musician from Mali, noted as a singer and guitarist. He began his career as a member of Ali Farka Touré's group ASCO, and Toure is often regarded as his mentor. Both men come from the town of Niafunke on the River N ...

, Tony Allen,

Orchestra Baobab Orchestra Baobab is a Senegalese band established in 1970 as the house band of the Baobab Club in Dakar. Many of the band's original members had previously played with Star Band de Dakar in the 1960s. Directed by '' timbalero'' and vocalist Ball ...

Djeli Moussa Diawara Djeli Moussa Diawara (born February 1962) is a kora player ( Korafola), composer and singer. Biography Djeli Moussa Diawara (also spelled as ''Jali Musa Jawara'') was born to a Griot family in Kankan, Guinea. His father was a balafon player, ...

Fatoumata Diawara Fatoumata Diawara (, born 21 February 1982) is a Malian singer-songwriter currently living in France. Diawara began her career as an actress in theatre and in film, including ''Genesis'' (1999), '' Sia, The Dream of the Python'' (2001) and ''T ...

Cheikh Lô Cheikh N'Digel Lô (born 12 September 1955) is a Senegalese musician. Early life He was born to Senegalese parents in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, and began playing drums and singing at an early age. Career In 1976, he joined Orchestre Volta Ja ...

Oumou Sangaré Oumou Sangaré (; born 25 February 1968) is a Malian Wassoulou singer of Fulani ( Fula) descent. She is often referred to as "The Songbird of Wassoulou". Wassoulou is a historical region south of the Niger River, where the music descends from ...

and

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and f ...

. In 2018, Gold sold World Circuit Records to the

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

References

External links

Nick Gold Credits
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Nick Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex British record producers Music industry executives Year of birth missing (living people)