Founder of the landmark ensemble Irakere and winner of six GRAMMY® and three Latin GRAMMY® Awards, the Cuban pianist, composer and arranger Chucho Valdés is the most influential figure in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. Enjoy an intimate show with his Chucho Valdés Quartet at the Holland Center in April.
Born in a family of musicians in Quivicán, Havana province, Cuba, on October 9, 1941, Dionisio Jesús "Chucho" Valdés Rodríguez, has distilled elements of the Afro-Cuban music tradition, jazz, classical music, rock and more, into an organic, personal style that has both, a distinct style and substance. His first teacher was his father, the great pianist, composer and bandleader Ramón “Bebo” Valdés and he was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie.
He is a versatile performer, as comfortable offering solo performances as leading small and large ensembles. His most recent project, Jazz Batá 2, is an exceptional work in which he revisits an idea he first explored in 1972: a piano jazz trio featuring batá drums in place of the conventional trap set. The batá are the sacred, hourglass shaped drums used in the ritual music of the Yoruba religion, better known as Santeria.
Chucho received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences™, was inducted in the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame, and received a DC Jazz Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. He celebrated his 80th birthday with the world premiere of “La Creación”, “The Creation”, at the Adrienne Arscht Center in Miami.
The Chucho Valdes Quartet will perform at the Holland Performing Arts Center on Thursday, April 20th, 7:30pm. For more information you may visit o-pa.org