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Chucho Valdés, música sin fin
by Joan A. Cararach
Chucho Valdés acude al encuentro con AllAboutJazz confiado. En su música y en la victoria de España en el Mundial de fútbol de Sudáfrica. Es el 11 de julio del 2010, y por primera vez en su historia la selección española ha llegado a una final del Mundial, en Sudáfrica. ¿Un cubano interesado en el fútbol? “En Cuba ahora se sigue mucho el fútbol, sobre todo la Liga española. Yo empecé a entusiasmarme por el fútbol en los últimos tres ...
Continue ReadingChucho Valdes & The Afro-Cuban Messengers: Chucho's Steps
by Chris May
The semiology contained on pianist Chucho Valdés' magnificent Chucho's Steps points to the character of the music before the disc has even been taken out of its sleeve. First there's the name of the group and its reference to drummer Art Blakey's ferociously swinging Jazz Messengers. Then there's the title of the opener, “Las dos caras" ("Both Sides"), which hints at the two jazz traditions, American and Afro-Cuban, defining its particular style--an idea reinforced by the image of a crossroads, ...
Continue ReadingChucho Valdes & The Afro-Cuban Messengers: Chucho's Steps
by Chris May
La semiología contenida en el magnífico Chucho's Steps de Chucho Valdés define el carácter de la música antes de haber reproducido el disco. En primer lugar, la referencia al batería Art Blakey y al swing apasionado y feroz de los Jazz Messengers. Luego, el título de la pieza inicial, Las dos caras, que apunta a las dos tradiciones del jazz --americana y afrocubana-- que definen su particular estilo, ambas presentes en todo su esplendor. Por último, el título del sexto ...
Continue ReadingChucho Valdes Quintet at 2009 Ottawa International Jazz Festival
by Marcia Hillman
Chucho Valdés Quintet 2009 Ottawa International Jazz Festival Ottawa, Canada July 3, 2009
The rain held off and skies cleared just in time for the Chucho Valdés Quintet to delight the audience at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, Confederation Park. The group-consisting of Chucho Valdés on piano, Lazaro Alarcon on bass, drummer Juan Carlos Rojas, percussionist Yurali Abreu and vocalist Mayra Caridad Valdés (who appeared later in the set)--started the set with an Ellington ...
Continue ReadingChucho Valdes And The Birth Of Irakere
by Chris May
Rumor Records' Jazz Cuba series cherry picks from 300 recordings made primarily for local consumption from the mid 1950s through the late 1980s at the Panart and Areito studios in Havana, Cuba. Some may briefly have surfaced in the US via the Cuban exile community, but none have previously been released in the UK or mainland Europe.
The first five releases include four albums led by or featuring pianist Chucho Valdes which trace the genesis of the seminal ...
Continue ReadingChucho Vald?s: New Conceptions
by Javier AQ Ortiz
Latin jazz’s premiere quartet issues yet another skillful interpretation of Ellingtoniana, straight-ahead jazz and blues tenets – as well as Afro-Cuban music – in a compact, exhilarating release. Jesïs “Chucho” Valdïs is at what might be the zenith of his career, as his chops ably attest. New Conceptions features the usual muscularity, intensity and intellectual reach of the pianist’s Blue Note releases. This time he’s expounding upon them in a small group setting produced by Renï Lïpez, whose musical career ...
Continue ReadingChucho Vald?s: New Conceptions
by Jim Santella
His quartet and guests give Chucho Valdïs an eclectic atmosphere through which he parades his enthusiasm for American jazz and traditional Cuban music. His heavy piano tirades provide the kind of strength that is needed when one pumps up the volume with Latin percussionists in abundance right and left. Soloists from Irakere share the spotlight this time out, and Valdïs creates evolving scenery in which each can improvise freely. Even the straight-ahead “Solar,” with its familiar melody and typical mainstream ...
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