Chucho Valdés, leader of the internationally renowned group Irakere, is Cuba's most-renowned jazz musician. According to Jazziz magazine, Jesús "Chucho" Valdés is "the most complete pianist in the world." Valdés can drive an impatient crowd of dancers into a frenzy, play the complex rhythms of Cuba's African religious traditions, perform the classics with impeccable technique and solo in any jazz style you can name. Kept out of the American market for years by the American embargo of Cuba, Valdés, at the age of 57, is at the height of his powers and only now beginning to receive outside Cuba the recognition he merits.

Chucho Valdés, born in 1941, began to play the piano at the age of three. His first teacher was his father, the well-known pianist, band leader and composer Bebo Valdés. At a tender age, he was in the midst of such distinguished company as the much-beloved singer and band leader Beny More, and internationally renowned composer/pianist Ernesto Lecuona, among others. Valdés later studied piano with Zenaida Romeu and Rosario Franco. At the age of 16, the young prodigy organized his first jazz trio and by 18 had made two 45 rpm records for RCA Victor. In 1965, he joined Elio Revé's orchestra.

Valdés was among a group of sophisticated Havana musicians who were jazz fans, and in 1967 he co-founded the famed Orquesta de Música Moderna, for which he also composed. In 1969 he mounted his first major large-scale work, "Misa Negra," in which his style was already evident: a piano played rhythmically, as if by a sophisticated percussionist, with complex jazz and classical harmonies.

In 1973, with other members of the Orquesta de Música Moderna -- including saxophonists Paquito D'Rivera, guitarist Carlos Emilio and bassist Carlitos del Puerto -- Valdés founded Irakere, the now-legendary group that transformed popular Cuban music. Their influence on Cuban music with their first hit, "Bacalao Con Pan," was immediate and decisive. An alumnus of the orchestra, José Luis Cortés (today leader of NG La Banda) once said in an interview that if Los Van Van was Cuba's Beatles, Irakere was its Rolling Stones.

The group maintained a dual identity from the beginning: a popular dance band and an intensely virtuosic jazz group, fusing the Afro-Cuban spirit with a broad jazz outlook. Much of the modern dance-band sound in contemporary Cuba springs from the timbre established by Irakere, and many of Cuba's best-known instrumentalists first came to prominence playing in that orchestra.

In 1978, during a brief thaw in relations between the U.S. and Cuba under the Carter administration, Irakere became the first modern Cuban group signed to a U.S. label (Columbia), and their debut album won a Grammy -- which was presented to them by NARAS president Michael Greene fifteen years later! That same year, Irakere also toured the U.S., opening for Stephen Stills.

Although Valdés still appears occasionally with Irakere, in recent years has been focusing his time and energies on developing his solo career. From the mid-90s, the increasing visibility of Cuba as a world center of music, and more frequent visits to the U.S. have given fellow musicians, audiences and critics the opportunity to be exposed to the uncommonly gifted Valdés. In 1997, he was a featured artist with Roy Hargrove's all-star Cristol project, whose recording Habana won a Grammy in 1998. He also presented enthusiastically acclaimed solo concerts at Lincoln Center and at the Smithsonian Institute.

The 6'6" Valdés is an imposing presence on the bandstand. His sure-handed virtuosity, his quick ear, his grasp of structure and his encyclopedic knowledge of all styles of music are put at the service of the drama of his playing. As Peter Watrous wrote in The New York Times following one New York performance: "Mr. Valdés' solos, mixing shiny, splashed note clusters with tumbaos and terrifyingly risky runs, brought him several standing ovations."

There seem to be no limits to Chucho Valdés' musical powers. He can go head-to-head with the most fearsome jazz improvisers alive, be a wicked salsero, or play Debussy -- or all of the above practically all at the same time. 

Lucumi (Messidor, 1986)

Solo Piano (Blue Note, 1991)

Cantala a Babalú Ayé (Egrem, 1997)

La Comparsa (Egrem, 1997)

Sólo te Echaron (Egrem, 1997)

Babalu Ayé - Chucho Valdés &Irakere (Bembe, 1998)

Bele Bele en la Habana (Blue Note, 1998)

Live (Uni/RMM Records, 1998)

Pianissimo (Iris Musique, 1998)

Desafíos - Omara Portuondo &Chucho Valdés (Intuition/Nubenegra, 1998)

Briyumba Palo Congo (Emd/Blue Note, 1999)

Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 2000)

Solo-Live in New York (Blue Note 93456 B, 2001