Jesús Valdés, better known as Chucho Valdés, is the leader of the internationally renowned group Irakere, is Cuba’s most-renowned jazz musician. 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.
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-1990s, 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 Crisol project, whose recording Habana won a Grammy in 1998. He also presented enthusiastically acclaimed solo concerts at Lincoln Center and at the Smithsonian Institute.
In 2000, Chucho Valdés and his father Bebo participated in Calle 54, an acclaimed documentary film about Latin jazz musicians by Spanish director Fernando Trueba.
Border-Free is a 2013 album by Chucho Valdés, released on the Jazz Village label. On this album, Valdés and his Afro-Cuban Messengers blur the lines between traditional styles of music, incorporating nods to flamenco, Moroccan Gnawa music, Orishas ritual rhythms, hard-bop, danzón, Bach, Rachmaninoff, and Miles Davis. The album is a deeply personal and open-ended sound, with tracks dedicated to his late father, pianist, arranger, and bandleader Bebo Valdés, his mother Pilar Rodríguez, a pianist and singer, and his grandmother Caridad Amaro. The album also includes personal tributes to lesser-known female musicians, including María Cervantes and Margarita Lecuona. Finally, the album includes “Afro-Comanche,” a composition dedicated to a little-known piece of the United States and Cuban history, when in the 1700s, 700 Comanche prisoners were relocated to Cuba where many mixed with Afro-Cubans, resulting in a fusion of cultures. The album features Reynaldo Melián Alvarez on trumpet, Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé on batá drums and lead vocals, Rodney Barreto Yllarza on drums and vocals, Angel Gastón Joya Perellada on double bass, vocals, and Yaroldy Abreu Robles on percussion and vocals. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis also appears on three tracks.
In 2015, he toured with The Chucho Valdés: Irakere 40 tour, a celebration of Irakere. The band included Chucho Valdés pm piano; Gastón Joya on bass; Rodney Barreto on drums; Yaroldy Abreu on percussion; Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé on batás and vocals; Manuel Machado on trumpet; Reinaldo Melián on trumpet; Carlos Sarduy on trumpet; Ariel Bringuez on tenor saxophone; and Rafael Àguila on alto saxophone.
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 his remarkable playing.
The Latin Recording Academy awarded Chucho Valdés the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Solo discography:
Jazz nocturno (Areito, 1964)
Guapachá en La Habana (Areito, 1964)
Chucho Valdés (Areito, 1970)
Jazz batá (Areito, 1972)
Piano I (Areito, 1976)
Tema de Chaka (Areito, 1981)
Invitación (Areito, 1986)
Lucumi (Messidor, 1988)
Straight Ahead, with Arturo Sandoval (Jazz House, 1988)
Solo Piano (Blue Note, 1991)
Bele Bele en la Habana (Blue Note, 1998)
Briyumba Palo Congo (Blue Note, 1999)
Live (RMM, 1999)
Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 2000)
Live in New York (Blue Note, 2001)
Canciones inéditas (EGREM, 2002)
Fantasía Cubana, Variations on Classical Themes (Blue Note, 2002)
New Conceptions (Blue Note, 2003)
Cancionero cubano (EGREM, 2005)
Canto a Dios (Comanche, 2008)
Tumi Sessions (Tumi, 2008)
Juntos para siempre, with Bebo Valdés (Sony, 2008)
Chucho’s Steps (Four-Quarters, 2010)
Border-Free (Comanche, 2013)
Tribute to Irakere – Live in Marciac (Comanche, 2016)
Familia – Tribute To Bebo + Chico, with Arturo O’Farrill (Motéma, 2017)
Jazz Bata 2 (Mack Avenue Records, 2018)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
Updated discography November 17, 2018