Executive & Artistic Director

Thor Steingraber

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Chucho Valdés: Irakere 50

With Special Guest Arturo Sandoval

Guest Appearance by Cimafunk

Thu Feb 20 | 8pm

Run Time: about 1 hour and 50 minutes including a 20-minute intermission

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Program | Program Note

Musicians

Chucho Valdés | Arturo Sandoval

Cimafunk

DownBeat Magazine: The Rapid Rise of The Soraya

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About The Soraya

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Chucho Valdés

Cuban pianist, composer, and arranger Chucho Valdés is one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. In a career spanning more than 60 years, both as a solo artist and bandleader, he has distilled elements of the Afro-Cuban music tradition, jazz, classical music, rock, and more, into a deeply personal style.

Winner of seven Grammy Awards and six Latin Grammy Awards, Valdés received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences in 2018 and was also inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Valdés celebrated his 80th birthday on Oct. 9, 2021, completing La Creación (The Creation), a three-movement suite for a small ensemble, voices, and a big band. The piece, the most ambitious work of his career, tells the history of creation, according to La Regla de Ocha, the religious tradition with African and Cuban roots known as Santería. The Creation was a commission of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Chicago Symphony Center, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. It had its world premiere on Nov. 5, 2021, at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Performances followed in several U.S. cities, including Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, the Detroit Jazz Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival in California. In Europe, the tour began at the Philharmonie in Paris and included performances in Berlin, London, Hamburg, Germany, Lyon, France, and Barcelona, Spain (Valdés is known as the godfather of the International Jazz Festival).

Another significant recent development was the long-awaited reunion with his old friend and co-conspirator in many musical adventures, the extraordinary clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Paquito D'Rivera. They have rarely played together for the past 40 years, and since their reunion, they have wasted no time. In January 2022, they recorded an album entitled I Missed You Too! and they embarked on a tour with their Reunion Sextet that took them to Europe and the United States.

Dionisio Jesús “Chucho” Valdés Rodríguez was born in a family of musicians in Quivicán, Cuba. His first teacher was his father, the pianist, composer, and bandleader Ramón “Bebo” Valdés. By the age of 3, Chucho Valdés was already playing on the piano melodies he heard on the radio — using both hands and on any key. He began taking lessons on piano, theory, and solfège at the age of 5. He continued his formal musical education at the Conservatorio Municipal de Música de la Habana, from which he graduated at 14. A year later, Valdés formed his first jazz trio. In 1959, he debuted professionally with the band Sabor de Cuba. The ensemble, directed by his father, is widely considered one of the great orchestras in modern Cuban music.

Fittingly, Valdés made his early mark as the founder, pianist, and leading composer and arranger of another landmark ensemble: the small big band Irakere (1973–2005). With its audacious mix of Afro-Cuban ritual music, Cuban dance music, jazz, classical music, and rock, Irakere marked a before and after in Latin jazz. Irakere’s self-titled debut recording in the United States won a Grammy for Best Latin Recording in 1979.

While he remained with Irakere until 2005, Valdés launched a parallel career in 1998 both as a solo performer and a small-group leader. It marked the beginning of an enormously fruitful period highlighted by albums such as Solo Piano (Blue Note, 1991), Solo: Live in New York (Blue Note, 2001), as well as quartet recordings such as Bele Bele en La Habana (Blue Note, 1998), Briyumba Palo Congo (Blue Note, 1999), New Conceptions (Blue Note, 2003), and Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 2000), the latter of which won a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album.

After leaving Irakere, Valdés also won Grammy Awards for Juntos Para Siempre (Calle 54, 2007), the duet recording with his father; and Chucho’s Steps (Comanche, 2010), which introduced his new group, the Afro-Cuban Messengers.

But such success didn’t mean forgetting past achievements. In 2015, Valdés celebrated the 40th anniversary of the birth of Irakere, his iconic band, with a world tour. Tribute to Irakere: Live in Marciac (Jazz Village/Comanche Music), which captured a performance on that tour, won a Grammy for the Best Latin Jazz Album in 2016. He also won a Latin Grammy for Jazz Batá 2, in which he revisited a revolutionary idea Valdés first recorded in 1972: a piano jazz trio featuring batá drums. In 2022, Valdés won a Grammy and a Latin Grammy for Mirror Mirror, an album of duets by pianist and singer Eliane Elias with Valdés and the great late pianist Chick Corea.

Arturo Sandoval

A protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval was born in Artemisa, a small town in the outskirts of Havana, on Nov. 6, 1949, just two years after Gillespie became the first musician to bring Latin influences into American jazz.

Sandoval began studying classical trumpet at the age of 12, but it didn’t take him long to catch the excitement of the jazz world. He has since evolved into one of the world’s most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist, and composer. Sandoval is one of the most dynamic and vivacious live performers of our time, and has been seen by millions at the Oscars, the Grammy Awards, and the Billboard Music Awards.

Sandoval was a 2024 Kennedy Center Honoree and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Barack Obama. Sandoval has been awarded 4 Grammy Awards (11 nominations) and 5 Latin Grammy Awards (9 nominations); he has also received 6 Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award, the latter for his composing work on the entire underscore of the HBO movie based on his life, For Love or Country, starring Andy Garcia as Sandoval.

Sandoval is one of the greatest trumpet players in the world due to his exceptional technical skills, virtuosic performances, and profound musicality. He possesses a remarkable range, agility, and control over the instrument, allowing him to execute intricate passages efficiently and expressly. Sandoval’s ability to blend various styles, including jazz, classical, and Latin music, further adds to his versatility and appeal. Moreover, his contributions to the music world extend beyond his prowess as a performer. Sandoval is also a prolific composer, arranger, and educator, inspiring countless musicians with his innovative approach and dedication to his craft. Additionally, his remarkable life story, overcoming political oppression in Cuba and finding success on the international stage, adds depth to his legacy and serves as an inspiration to many. While opinions on who the “best” trumpet player in the world may vary depending on personal preferences and criteria, Sandoval undoubtedly ranks among the most respected and admired musicians in his field.

Sandoval’s incomparable collaborations are a who’s who of legends and new generation voices from the worlds of pop, jazz, classical, and Latin music including: Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, Plácido Domingo, Celia Cruz, Juan Luis Guerra, Al Jarreau, Alejandro Sanz, Prince Royce, David Bisbal, Woody Herman, Woody Shaw, Michel Legrand, John Williams, Josh Groban, Tony Bennett, Bill Conti, Stan Getz, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Rod Stewart, Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, and Meghan Trainor, among others.

Sandoval was a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning group Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, classical, rock, and traditional Cuban music caused a sensation throughout the entertainment world. In 1981, he left Irakere to form his own band, which garnered enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences all over the world and continues to do so.

Sandoval is also a renowned classical musician, performing regularly with the leading symphony orchestras from around the world. He has composed his own “Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra,” which can be heard on Arturo Sandoval: The Classical Album. Sandoval later composed his “2nd Trumpet Concerto,” which he has performed around the world. He has performed with the foremost orchestras in the country as well as abroad and recorded John Williams’ Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His classical artistry has earned him the respect and admiration from the most prestigious conductors, composers, and symphony orchestras worldwide.

Sandoval's underscore compositions can also be heard in movies: Clint Eastwood’s films The Mule starring Eastwood and Bradley Cooper, and Richard Jewell; 1001 to 1 starring Beau Bridges; At Middleton starring Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga; Dave Grusin’s soundtrack for Havana and Random Hearts; The Mambo Kings soundtrack with his Grammy-nominated composition “Mambo Caliente”; the soundtracks of The Perez Family, 61, Mr. Wrong, the documentary Oscar, and The Fuente Family, among others. He also was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to compose the music for the ballet Pepito’s Story, Soul Possessed, as well as Oman … O Man! and The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, choreographed by Debbie Allen.

Sandoval reaches beyond the scope of mere effort. His struggles while in Cuba and since his defection have given him more energy and strength, urging him to accomplish and surpass his childhood dreams. Filled with a virtuoso capability, he desires nothing more than to share his gift with others who feel the same intense adoration for music as he does. One frequently speaks of Sandoval’s virtuoso technical ability or his specialty in high notes, but anyone who has seen him on the piano, lyrically improvising a ballad, or has had the opportunity to enjoy the diversity of his music, through his compositions from the most straight ahead jazz, Latin jazz or classical, knows that Sandoval is a prominent musician, and one of the most brilliant, multifaceted, and renowned musicians of our time.

Cimafunk

Cuban music has a new global ambassador: Cimafunk. With a name and image that pays tribute to the Cimarrons — Cubans of African descent that resisted slavery — and music and showmanship that re-embodies funk legends from the last century, the medical-school student turned funk artist has developed into a musical force crafting the sonic future of the island and a global, cultural phenomenon that unites and celebrates Blackness across borders, oceans, and languages.

With his unmistakable Afro-Cuban sounds, no-holds-barred live show, and multiple Grammy nominations, Cimafunk is redefining what the planet understands as Cuban music. Cimafunk’s debut album Terapia (2017), with its groundbreaking No. 1 single “Me Voy,” was followed by his breakout performance at SXSW 2019 and widely praised NPR Tiny Desk Concert. The Afro-Cuban rockstar has moved the spotlight well beyond the Buena Vista Social Club, salsa, and reggaeton.

Cimafunk has ascended from a local sensation on Havana’s small alternative music scene to global success. Performing with La Tribu (The Tribe), his nine-piece band from Havana, Cimafunk has electrified global audiences, making a name for himself as one of the great showmen of today. From New Orleans Jazz Festival and Lollapalooza Chile to becoming the first Cuban-born artist to play Coachella, this star of Afro-Latin music has earned accolades from musical icons: Argentine Fito Páez has hailed him as “one of the lights of the continent’s future”; the Godfather of Funk George Clinton refers to Cimafunk as “the next one”; and Chucho Valdés credits Cimafunk with masterfully and organically blending “Afro-Cuban with African American, converting this into a new school that until now I haven’t heard done.”

Cimafunk’s distinctive musical fusion continued to grow in its artistry with the release of his second album, El Alimento (The Nourishment), which was met with an abundance of critical praise that included Best Albums of the Year lists of Rolling Stone and NPR. He has also received glowing reviews for his unrivaled live shows, which quickly made him one of the most in-demand festival performers.