Lucas van Merwijk about Chan Chan:
"Chan Chan became a million seller hit with The Buena Vista Social Club. Bassist Adinda Meertins approached the tune with an exiting uptempo 12/8 feel giving the piece a unusual and different character."

Chan Chan is a composition by Cuban bandleader Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz (1907-2003) a.k.a. Compay Segundo, revolving around two central characters: Juanica and Chan Chan. The song was one of Compay's last compositions and was written in 1987. Chan Chan had already been recorded by the composer himself various times, but worldwide success came with a version with Compay and other Cuban artists Eliades Ochoa and Ibrahim Ferrer as the first song on the album Buena Vista Social Club.

This is the signature song of Compay Segundo, a classic son, the standard of traditional Cuban music. What sets it apart from any other son is the bass line and the syncopated melodic phrasings, or tumbao. The two central characters, Juanica and Chan Chan, are legends of Cuban folklore; the lyrics capture the life and culture of the guajiro, or peasant of rural Cuba. Compay himself was born in such a setting in the Oriente province, which is often referred to as the cradle and soul of Cuban music.

Lucas van Merwijk (Netherlands) - Drums
Ramon Valle (Cuba) - Piano
Adinda Meertins (Suriname) - Bass
Ilja Reijngoud (Netherlands) - Trombone