Chucho Valdés

He is the son of the noted Cuban composer/arranger/conductor Ramon "Bebo" Valdes. Taught by his parents from the age of three to age six, he began classes in piano, salsa, and music theory under Oscar M. Bouffartique who taught him until his ninth birthday. He went on to study at the prestigious Conservatory of Havana, beginning his career playing in orchestras conducted by his father. By age sixteen he was pianist for the Orquesta Moderna de Musica (Orchestra of Modern Music) under the direction of Armondo Romeu. Additionally, he served as a musician for the Havana Music Theater. In addition to his father, Valdes' musical influences include the beloved Afro-Cuban vocalist Benny More and the internationally renowned pianist and composer Ernesto Lecuona. Valdes' father Ramon and Lecuona would help to create a musical dialogue that ushered in an era marked by the fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms and European-derived Cuban Classical music. Considered by many critics to be the most significant musician of post-Revolutionary Cuba, Valdes continues to remain at the forefront of artists who have successfully fused African, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Latin elements to Afro-American Jazz. As founder of the group Irakere (a Yoruba word that means "forest"), Valdes' and his co-musicians--trumpeter Arturo Sandoval among them--earned a Grammy Award for Irakere in 1979. Valdes as a leader of a variety of groups from trios to sextets has been nominated for several Grammy awards throughout the 1990s. In addition to the explosion of musical creativity from Cuba's musicians in the 1940s onward, he has cited among his influences such American Jazz musicians as Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Jones, Bill Evans, and McCoy Tyner. He continues to explore and chart new musical territory, often featuring his vocalist sister Mayra Caridad Valdes in his performances and recordings; recent collaborations with Jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove in the group "Crisol" and his solo piano performances and recordings are indicative of a virtuosity and creativity that has become an indelible influence on musicians of every genre around the world.