Before locking down an extensive run of U.S. commitments, Peruvian bassist Arturo Valdez built a career that traveled confidently between celebrated institutions, headline stages, and influential recording rooms across Peru, Spain, and the United States. His résumé reads as a map of modern jazz and Latin American creativity, with each stop demonstrating a different facet of his craft.
Before locking down an extensive run of U.S. commitments, Peruvian bassist Arturo Valdez built a career that traveled confidently between celebrated institutions, headline stages, and influential recording rooms across Peru, Spain, and the United States. His résumé reads as a map of modern jazz and Latin American creativity, with each stop demonstrating a different facet of his craft.
In 2021, Valdez stepped onto one of the world’s most storied stages with the Colombian-rooted ensemble Grupo Rebolú, leading the low end in two high-profile concerts: the Creative Alliance’s Afro-Colombian Dance Party in Baltimore on September 9, and a showcase at Carnegie Hall’s Citiwide Series on August 19. The same year, he began a longstanding collaboration with Argentine guitarist-composer Marco Grispo that would see Valdez serve as lead bassist on Grispo’s critically recognized debut album, Parques (2021) and emerge as a featured player in the Timucua Arts Foundation’s “Open House: Marco Grispo Quartet” concert on April 3, 2022.
Valdez’s work with Spanish vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Mar Vilaseca reached global audiences as well. He played lead bass on her acclaimed debut album, Find the Way, and helped power her live profile, including a 2018 set at the Barcelona Jazz Festival, launching Vilaseca’s appearances at Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smalls, The Jazz Gallery, The Jazz Showcase, and prominent festivals from Guangzhou to Bogotá.
Stateside, Valdez’s authority was recognized by jazz institutions and heroes alike. On December 29, 2024, he reinforced his New York credentials as lead bassist with José Benjamín Escobar’s quintet at Close Up, one of the city’s intimate venues for forward-leaning jazz.
His rhythm section chemistry and stylistic fluency grew in tandem with drummer-bandleader Ken Ychicawa from 2019 to 2025. As the lead bassist and double bassist for Ychicawa’s jazz trio and his Kappa Trio, Valdez recorded the Kappa Trio’s 2019 self-titled album and toured Peru; he also logged U.S. dates with Ychicawa and contributed featured performances on the 2025 album Temporal and the 2024 single “The Process," a release covered by Rockachorao. National outlets such as Más Málaga and Rockachorao traced the band’s ascent, reflecting Ychicawa’s stature as a central figure of Lima’s contemporary scene and a festival-tested collaborator whose track record includes the Rochester and Edmonton Jazz Festivals, Ecuador Jazz Festival, the Kalisz Jazz Piano Festival, New York’s Zinc Bar, and Lima’s Gran Teatro Nacional.
Valdez’s international footprint was further affirmed in 2024 with the Berklee Global Jazz Institute’s 15th Anniversary Tour stop at Panama City’s Gladys Vidal Theater (May 29). Founded by Grammy winner Danilo Pérez, BGJI’s programming ties artistry to social impact and has partnered with institutions from the Panama Jazz Festival to the conservatories of Amsterdam and Paris, while earning accolades in elite competitions such as Keep an Eye Jazz. Valdez’s role in that tour placed him squarely among the institute’s community of high-achieving alumni and faculty.
On the recording front, his low-end touch has reached mainstream and indie audiences alike. In 2023, he performed as lead bassist on the hit single “Cada Paso" with Peruvian artist-producer Hita lot, whose catalog includes Estado de Fe. Valdez’s contribution to the track was documented across a range of outlets, among them Factor Mostaza, El Enfoque Colombia, El Tabloide, Socialite360, Noticias Entretenimiento Lima, and Órbita. That same year, he anchored Guillermo Pardavé’s (Aveparda) album Cielo de Lima, a release praised by Rockachorao for its artistic vision and production. Earlier, in 2020, Valdez served as lead bassist on “Drama" by Andrea Martínez.
In Peru, Valdez has been a consistent presence on major stages and civic platforms. On February 20, 2023, he headlined as lead bassist in the outdoor concert “Jazz at the Viewpoint" at Mirador del Malecón Pardo in La Punta, an event organized by the Culture Division and covered by the Peruvian National Government’s official news outlet. He also marked International Jazz Day with a performance and bass masterclass at Jazz Zone in Miraflores—part of the UNESCO—and Herbie Hancock–led global initiative that celebrates jazz’s role in diplomacy and cultural exchange. His ties to the Lima Jazz Association date back to 2014, including a December 19, 2014 appearance in The Patagonia Sessions alongside leading Peruvian artists Carlos Espinoza and Víctor Manuel Sánchez Cueto, and a July 26, 2023 performance as lead bassist of the Karl Schroth Quartet at Nomad in Lima, a concert reported by Diario Noticiero and Serperuano.
His festival profile includes the 10th International Vibraphone and Marimba Festival on August 14, 2023 at the UEDEP Culture Center in Lima, where he appeared alongside renowned vibraphonist-composer Ted Piltzecker. Coverage by El Peruano and Joinnus underscored the event’s stature; the festival convenes prominent percussionists and jazz artists from Argentina, Colombia, the U.S., Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and Venezuela for concerts, masterclasses, and a gala finale.
Momentum carried into 2024 as Valdez took the stage in Lima on January 2 with the Brian Richburg Jr Quartet at Selina, led by a drummer whose résumé spans tours with Nicholas Payton and the Marsalis family and honors including the ASCAP Louis Prima Award. Meanwhile, in New York and the Northeast, Valdez deepened relationships that would soon extend into his 2025–2028 commitments: he played with Phil Grenadier beginning in 2024 as part of the trumpeter’s long-running Post Underground Boston series; he performed with the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet in Troy, NY in 2024 (covered by Mirth Films); and he solidified his place in the circle of Peruvian-born, U.S.-raised saxophonist sebastian roman with an October 24, 2024 “Kind of Blue / Milestones Tribute” at Café Coda in Madison, Wisconsin.
Taken together, these milestones reveal the foundations of Valdez’s current demand in the United States. They map a career that absorbed the rigor of Lima’s institutions and scene-building platforms, ventured outward to high-visibility stages and BGJI’s international tours, and delivered in the studio for artists ranging from indie visionaries to nationally recognized bandleaders. That path—alongside his simultaneous emergence as a producer, engineer, and educator—explains why so many U.S. ensembles and institutions have moved quickly to lock in his talents through 2028.
In 2021, Valdez stepped onto one of the world’s most storied stages with the Colombian-rooted ensemble Grupo Rebolú, leading the low end in two high-profile concerts: the Creative Alliance’s Afro-Colombian Dance Party in Baltimore on September 9, and a showcase at Carnegie Hall’s Citiwide Series on August 19. The same year, he began a longstanding collaboration with Argentine guitarist-composer Marco Grispo that would see Valdez serve as lead bassist on Grispo’s critically recognized debut album, Parques (2021) and emerge as a featured player in the Timucua Arts Foundation’s “Open House: Marco Grispo Quartet” concert on April 3, 2022.
Valdez’s work with Spanish vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Mar Vilaseca reached global audiences as well. He played lead bass on her acclaimed debut album, Find the Way, and helped power her live profile, including a 2018 set at the Barcelona Jazz Festival, launching Vilaseca’s appearances at Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smalls, The Jazz Gallery, The Jazz Showcase, and prominent festivals from Guangzhou to Bogotá.
Stateside, Valdez’s authority was recognized by jazz institutions and heroes alike. On December 29, 2024, he reinforced his New York credentials as lead bassist with José Benjamín Escobar’s quintet at Close Up, one of the city’s intimate venues for forward-leaning jazz.
His rhythm section chemistry and stylistic fluency grew in tandem with drummer-bandleader Ken Ychicawa from 2019 to 2025. As the lead bassist and double bassist for Ychicawa’s jazz trio and his Kappa Trio, Valdez recorded the Kappa Trio’s 2019 self-titled album and toured Peru; he also logged U.S. dates with Ychicawa and contributed featured performances on the 2025 album Temporal and the 2024 single “The Process," a release covered by Rockachorao. National outlets such as Más Málaga and Rockachorao traced the band’s ascent, reflecting Ychicawa’s stature as a central figure of Lima’s contemporary scene and a festival-tested collaborator whose track record includes the Rochester and Edmonton Jazz Festivals, Ecuador Jazz Festival, the Kalisz Jazz Piano Festival, New York’s Zinc Bar, and Lima’s Gran Teatro Nacional.
Valdez’s international footprint was further affirmed in 2024 with the Berklee Global Jazz Institute’s 15th Anniversary Tour stop at Panama City’s Gladys Vidal Theater (May 29). Founded by Grammy winner Danilo Pérez, BGJI’s programming ties artistry to social impact and has partnered with institutions from the Panama Jazz Festival to the conservatories of Amsterdam and Paris, while earning accolades in elite competitions such as Keep an Eye Jazz. Valdez’s role in that tour placed him squarely among the institute’s community of high-achieving alumni and faculty.
On the recording front, his low-end touch has reached mainstream and indie audiences alike. In 2023, he performed as lead bassist on the hit single “Cada Paso" with Peruvian artist-producer Hita lot, whose catalog includes Estado de Fe. Valdez’s contribution to the track was documented across a range of outlets, among them Factor Mostaza, El Enfoque Colombia, El Tabloide, Socialite360, Noticias Entretenimiento Lima, and Órbita. That same year, he anchored Guillermo Pardavé’s (Aveparda) album Cielo de Lima, a release praised by Rockachorao for its artistic vision and production. Earlier, in 2020, Valdez served as lead bassist on “Drama" by Andrea Martínez.
In Peru, Valdez has been a consistent presence on major stages and civic platforms. On February 20, 2023, he headlined as lead bassist in the outdoor concert “Jazz at the Viewpoint" at Mirador del Malecón Pardo in La Punta, an event organized by the Culture Division and covered by the Peruvian National Government’s official news outlet. He also marked International Jazz Day with a performance and bass masterclass at Jazz Zone in Miraflores—part of the UNESCO—and Herbie Hancock–led global initiative that celebrates jazz’s role in diplomacy and cultural exchange. His ties to the Lima Jazz Association date back to 2014, including a December 19, 2014 appearance in The Patagonia Sessions alongside leading Peruvian artists Carlos Espinoza and Víctor Manuel Sánchez Cueto, and a July 26, 2023 performance as lead bassist of the Karl Schroth Quartet at Nomad in Lima, a concert reported by Diario Noticiero and Serperuano.
His festival profile includes the 10th International Vibraphone and Marimba Festival on August 14, 2023 at the UEDEP Culture Center in Lima, where he appeared alongside renowned vibraphonist-composer Ted Piltzecker. Coverage by El Peruano and Joinnus underscored the event’s stature; the festival convenes prominent percussionists and jazz artists from Argentina, Colombia, the U.S., Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and Venezuela for concerts, masterclasses, and a gala finale.
Momentum carried into 2024 as Valdez took the stage in Lima on January 2 with the Brian Richburg Jr Quartet at Selina, led by a drummer whose résumé spans tours with Nicholas Payton and the Marsalis family and honors including the ASCAP Louis Prima Award. Meanwhile, in New York and the Northeast, Valdez deepened relationships that would soon extend into his 2025–2028 commitments: he played with Phil Grenadier beginning in 2024 as part of the trumpeter’s long-running Post Underground Boston series; he performed with the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet in Troy, NY in 2024 (covered by Mirth Films); and he solidified his place in the circle of Peruvian-born, U.S.-raised saxophonist sebastian roman with an October 24, 2024 “Kind of Blue / Milestones Tribute” at Café Coda in Madison, Wisconsin.
Taken together, these milestones reveal the foundations of Valdez’s current demand in the United States. They map a career that absorbed the rigor of Lima’s institutions and scene-building platforms, ventured outward to high-visibility stages and BGJI’s international tours, and delivered in the studio for artists ranging from indie visionaries to nationally recognized bandleaders. That path—alongside his simultaneous emergence as a producer, engineer, and educator—explains why so many U.S. ensembles and institutions have moved quickly to lock in his talents through 2028.
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