Few bassists combine the authority of a first-call bandleader with the technical fluency of a studio producer the way Peruvian jazz standout Arturo Valdez does. His next chapter in the United States, running through 2028, doubles down on both fronts: a robust pipeline of major-label-caliber recording work and a coast-to- coast performance calendar with nationally recognized artists and institutions. The scope of his bookings, alongside a substantive trail of acclaimed releases and headline appearances in Peru, Spain, and the U.S., underscores a rapidly rising international profile.
Few bassists combine the authority of a first-call bandleader with the technical fluency of a studio producer the way Peruvian jazz standout Arturo Valdez does. His next chapter in the United States, running through 2028, doubles down on both fronts: a robust pipeline of major-label-caliber recording work and a coast-to-coast performance calendar with nationally recognized artists and institutions. The scope of his bookings, alongside a substantive trail of acclaimed releases and headline appearances in Peru, Spain, and the U.S., underscores a rapidly rising international profile.
In the studio, Valdez is the steady hand behind a raft of forthcoming projects. He will serve as Music Producer and Audio Engineer for Argentine-born guitarist-composer Marco Grispo, overseeing sessions for LOS WAVEMAKERS at New York’s storied Electric Lady Studios. The appointment formalizes a partnership built on past successes: Valdez anchored Grispo’s quartet in concert, held a leading role at the Timucua Arts Foundation in 2022, and was the lead bassist on Grispo’s debut Parques (2021), covered by All About Jazz. Trumpeter-composer Bell Thompson has also tapped Valdez as Lead Bassist and Music Producer for a dedicated album project at Electric Lady, following his 2025 appearances with her at the Seattle Jazz Fellowship and Close Up in New York. In parallel, bassist-composer Bob Bruya has hired Valdez to produce and engineer a series of extended sessions at Electric Lady between August and October 2026, reuniting a team that first clicked when Valdez handled the music production on Bruya’s 2022 single, It’s Been a Long Time. Brooklyn-based saxophonist-composer Katie Webster, an artist with credits at the Monterey Jazz Festival and Porgy & Bess and a Focusyear alum, will bring Valdez into Power Station in Manhattan for monthly album sessions from May through July 2027, complementing a run of club dates across New York.
Those forthcoming records build on an already substantive discography. Valdez’s lead bass work animates Mar Vilaseca’s acclaimed debut Find the Way (Ubuntu Music), Ken Ychicawa’s projects—including The Kappa Trio’s 2019 self-titled album, the 2024 single “The Process," and the 2025 album Temporal—Andrea Martínez’s 2020 album Drama, Guillermo Pardavé’s (Aveparda) 2023 release Cielo de Lima, and Hita lot’s 2023 hit single “Cada Paso."
On stage, Valdez’s U.S. calendar is anchored by appointments that span the country’s club circuit and festival ecosystem. From 2025 to 2028, he will serve as Lead Bassist for Speechless Music, an award-winning production house recognized by Wedding Wire and The Knot, performing nationwide in bands assembled for the company’s concerts and high-end events. He expands his long-standing collaboration with Barcelona-born, New York–based vocalist and composer Mar Vilaseca, returning as her lead bassist for featured U.S. concerts at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts in Memphis and Close Up in New York, and a 2027 Spain tour booked into the San Javier Jazz Festival, Barcelona’s Jamboree, the Torrent Jazz Festival, and Robadors23. For trumpeter Gabriel Alegría’s internationally acclaimed Afro-Peruvian Sextet—praised by the New York Times, DownBeat, the Wall Street Journal, and the Latin Jazz Network—Valdez steps in as Lead Bassist and Lead Bass Pedagogue for an Autumn 2026 tour that includes Blues Alley (Washington, DC), Cameron Art Museum (Wilmington, NC), and Artspace (Raleigh, NC), with masterclasses at Shenandoah University in 2026 and 2027 and a 2027 concert at Origins Cafe in Cooperstown, NY. With pianist-composer Álvaro Torres—Valdez is booked for a 2026 appearance at Mezzrow in New York, a 2027 concert at ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, a 2027 masterclass at the Brooklyn Conservatory, and a 2028 Spain tour with confirmed dates at Jamboree, Café Berlín (Madrid), and Jimmy Glass (Valencia).
The roster of U.S. collaborators signals broad stylistic command. As Lead Bassist for Bell Thompson, Valdez will maintain recurring trio and quartet nights at Close Up, add Spotlight dates at the Seattle Jazz Fellowship and at Chris’ Jazz Café in Philadelphia, and translate that chemistry to Electric Lady. With British-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Roella Oloro—an ISJAC Emerging Black Composers Prize winner with a résumé that stretches from the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room to Decca’s Alone Together—he will anchor a 2026 Café Erzulie residency in Brooklyn, a featured set at the Summer Solstice Music Festival, and concert engagements at Williamsburg Music Center and Grace by Nia in Boston. Over three decades, trumpeter Phil Grenadier has earned a reputation for daring lyricism; Valdez has been his go-to bassist since 2024 for the recurring Post Underground Boston series in Brookline, a relationship that runs through 2028. With Webster, Valdez will pair the 2027 Power Station dates with 2026–2027 evening performances at Fiction, Freddy’s Bar, Young Ethel’s, and Brother’s Wash & Dry across Brooklyn and Queens. Drummer Tcheser Holmes—whose credits include Irreversible Entanglements and sit-ins with the Sun Ra Arkestra—has booked Valdez for an ongoing December series at San Pedro Inn in Brooklyn and as the headlining solo performer at the Wellness, Beats & Peace Festival at IBeam in Brooklyn, where he is slated as a featured artist on July 27, 2025.
Valdez’s U.S. bona fides are strengthened by recent marquee dates. In 2024, he took the stage at Close Up as lead bassist for José Benjamín Escobar’s quintet, and he appeared with the Afro-Peruvian Sextet at Alias Coffee in Troy, New York, a performance covered by Mirth Films. Earlier highlights include two 2021 appearances as lead bassist with Grupo Rebolú, including a showcase at Carnegie Hall’s Citiwide Series and the Creative Alliance’s Afro-Colombian Dance Party in Baltimore. His international reach extends from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute’s 15th Anniversary Tour stop at Panama City’s Gladys Vidal Theater in 2024—part of an elite program founded by Grammy winner Danilo Pérez—to Peru-based engagements with drummer-bandleader Ken Ychicawa’s ensembles in both U.S. and national settings.
The arc is unmistakable: Valdez has built a discography praised by national outlets while becoming the preferred bassist for projects that demand leadership on both upright and electric bass, deep rhythmic fluency, and an instinct for production at the highest level. As he moves through Electric Lady, Power Station, and top clubs from Boston to Brooklyn, his 2025–2028 plans confirm a transnational career operating at full stride.
In the studio, Valdez is the steady hand behind a raft of forthcoming projects. He will serve as Music Producer and Audio Engineer for Argentine-born guitarist-composer Marco Grispo, overseeing sessions for LOS WAVEMAKERS at New York’s storied Electric Lady Studios. The appointment formalizes a partnership built on past successes: Valdez anchored Grispo’s quartet in concert, held a leading role at the Timucua Arts Foundation in 2022, and was the lead bassist on Grispo’s debut Parques (2021), covered by All About Jazz. Trumpeter-composer Bell Thompson has also tapped Valdez as Lead Bassist and Music Producer for a dedicated album project at Electric Lady, following his 2025 appearances with her at the Seattle Jazz Fellowship and Close Up in New York. In parallel, bassist-composer Bob Bruya has hired Valdez to produce and engineer a series of extended sessions at Electric Lady between August and October 2026, reuniting a team that first clicked when Valdez handled the music production on Bruya’s 2022 single, It’s Been a Long Time. Brooklyn-based saxophonist-composer Katie Webster, an artist with credits at the Monterey Jazz Festival and Porgy & Bess and a Focusyear alum, will bring Valdez into Power Station in Manhattan for monthly album sessions from May through July 2027, complementing a run of club dates across New York.
Those forthcoming records build on an already substantive discography. Valdez’s lead bass work animates Mar Vilaseca’s acclaimed debut Find the Way (Ubuntu Music), Ken Ychicawa’s projects—including The Kappa Trio’s 2019 self-titled album, the 2024 single “The Process," and the 2025 album Temporal—Andrea Martínez’s 2020 album Drama, Guillermo Pardavé’s (Aveparda) 2023 release Cielo de Lima, and Hita lot’s 2023 hit single “Cada Paso."
On stage, Valdez’s U.S. calendar is anchored by appointments that span the country’s club circuit and festival ecosystem. From 2025 to 2028, he will serve as Lead Bassist for Speechless Music, an award-winning production house recognized by Wedding Wire and The Knot, performing nationwide in bands assembled for the company’s concerts and high-end events. He expands his long-standing collaboration with Barcelona-born, New York–based vocalist and composer Mar Vilaseca, returning as her lead bassist for featured U.S. concerts at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts in Memphis and Close Up in New York, and a 2027 Spain tour booked into the San Javier Jazz Festival, Barcelona’s Jamboree, the Torrent Jazz Festival, and Robadors23. For trumpeter Gabriel Alegría’s internationally acclaimed Afro-Peruvian Sextet—praised by the New York Times, DownBeat, the Wall Street Journal, and the Latin Jazz Network—Valdez steps in as Lead Bassist and Lead Bass Pedagogue for an Autumn 2026 tour that includes Blues Alley (Washington, DC), Cameron Art Museum (Wilmington, NC), and Artspace (Raleigh, NC), with masterclasses at Shenandoah University in 2026 and 2027 and a 2027 concert at Origins Cafe in Cooperstown, NY. With pianist-composer Álvaro Torres—Valdez is booked for a 2026 appearance at Mezzrow in New York, a 2027 concert at ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, a 2027 masterclass at the Brooklyn Conservatory, and a 2028 Spain tour with confirmed dates at Jamboree, Café Berlín (Madrid), and Jimmy Glass (Valencia).
The roster of U.S. collaborators signals broad stylistic command. As Lead Bassist for Bell Thompson, Valdez will maintain recurring trio and quartet nights at Close Up, add Spotlight dates at the Seattle Jazz Fellowship and at Chris’ Jazz Café in Philadelphia, and translate that chemistry to Electric Lady. With British-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Roella Oloro—an ISJAC Emerging Black Composers Prize winner with a résumé that stretches from the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room to Decca’s Alone Together—he will anchor a 2026 Café Erzulie residency in Brooklyn, a featured set at the Summer Solstice Music Festival, and concert engagements at Williamsburg Music Center and Grace by Nia in Boston. Over three decades, trumpeter Phil Grenadier has earned a reputation for daring lyricism; Valdez has been his go-to bassist since 2024 for the recurring Post Underground Boston series in Brookline, a relationship that runs through 2028. With Webster, Valdez will pair the 2027 Power Station dates with 2026–2027 evening performances at Fiction, Freddy’s Bar, Young Ethel’s, and Brother’s Wash & Dry across Brooklyn and Queens. Drummer Tcheser Holmes—whose credits include Irreversible Entanglements and sit-ins with the Sun Ra Arkestra—has booked Valdez for an ongoing December series at San Pedro Inn in Brooklyn and as the headlining solo performer at the Wellness, Beats & Peace Festival at IBeam in Brooklyn, where he is slated as a featured artist on July 27, 2025.
Valdez’s U.S. bona fides are strengthened by recent marquee dates. In 2024, he took the stage at Close Up as lead bassist for José Benjamín Escobar’s quintet, and he appeared with the Afro-Peruvian Sextet at Alias Coffee in Troy, New York, a performance covered by Mirth Films. Earlier highlights include two 2021 appearances as lead bassist with Grupo Rebolú, including a showcase at Carnegie Hall’s Citiwide Series and the Creative Alliance’s Afro-Colombian Dance Party in Baltimore. His international reach extends from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute’s 15th Anniversary Tour stop at Panama City’s Gladys Vidal Theater in 2024—part of an elite program founded by Grammy winner Danilo Pérez—to Peru-based engagements with drummer-bandleader Ken Ychicawa’s ensembles in both U.S. and national settings.
The arc is unmistakable: Valdez has built a discography praised by national outlets while becoming the preferred bassist for projects that demand leadership on both upright and electric bass, deep rhythmic fluency, and an instinct for production at the highest level. As he moves through Electric Lady, Power Station, and top clubs from Boston to Brooklyn, his 2025–2028 plans confirm a transnational career operating at full stride.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
