Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Bebo Vald: Bebo de Cuba

475

Bebo Vald: Bebo de Cuba

By

View read count
Bebo Vald: Bebo de Cuba
This landmark set superbly documents the wide ranging talents of one of Cuba's greatest artists—expatriate pianist/composer/arranger Bebo Valdés—in the company of an impressive cast of New York's finest Latin jazz instrumentalists. The first disc, Suite Cubana, features the pianist, father of the more famous Chucho Valdés, leading an all-star big band through a collection of original compositions that revisit the classic sound of the golden age of Cuban music in a variety of infectious rhythms (mambo, bembé, son, guaracha, guajira, montuno, batanga, and comparsa) laid down by Valdés, Edgardo Miranda, John Benitez, Dafnis Prieto, Milton Cardona, Joe Gonzalez, and Rickard Valdés.

The melodies are memorable and the arrangements smooth and sophisticated. While there is a judicious amount of space allotted for the impressive soloists, including Paquito D'Rivera, Bobby Porcelli, Mario Rivera, Bobby Franceschini, and Pablo Calogero (saxophones); Diego Urcola, Ray Vega, and Mike Mossman (trumpets); and Papo Vazquéz, Luis Bonilla, and Juan Pablo Torres (trombones), the cohesive sound of the band is what makes the music such a great pleasure to hear.

The set's second disc, El Solar de Bebo, is an old-fashioned descarga (jam session) recalling the date Valdés led for producer Norman Granz in Cuba in 1952. The pianist is again joined by Miranda, Cardona, and Joe Gonzalez—this time with bassist Andy Gonzalez, drummer Steve Berrios, and timbalero Jimmy Delgado filling out the rhythm section. D'Rivera (on alto, soprano, and clarinet), Torres and Urcola are plucked from their respective horn sections, reuniting the front line from Bebo Rides Again.

The spotlight here is on the soloists (including Valdés the pianist) and the imposing percussion section, but the leader's compositions also shine, particularly the three beautiful ballads "Rose Marie, "A Mayra, and "Miriam, written for his wife and two daughters. The other selections swing tastily, including the guaguancó title track, the danza "El Quitr'on, and the descargas "Kabul and Lorenzo, "La Mula, "Da Baracutey, and "El Guajeo de Rickard, the latter dedicated to the leader's timbalero son, who appears on the track.

The bonus third disc, Cuadernos de Nueva York, is a twenty-plus minute DVD detailing Valdés' trip to the US and the making of these recordings. The documentary's subtitles (like the lavish 56-page booklet) are translated into English from the original edition's Spanish, offering an enjoyable glimpse of the affable artist, for American audiences.

Personnel

Bebo Vald

Album information

Title: Bebo de Cuba | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Calle 54 Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.