Jazz Police - Cuba Meets BeBop: Chuchito Valdes Quartet at Catalina’s on October 7th

There may be no greater legacy in jazz than the three generations of Cuban keyboard monsters named Valdes. Following grandpa Bebo and papa Chucho, Jesus “Chuchito.” On Sunday, October 7^th, Chuchito will bring his blend of Afro-Cuban Latin jazz, bebop, danzon, cha-cha-cha, son, montuno, timba and more to the stage at Catalina’s in Los Angeles in the form of his touring quartet, which includes brother Emilio on drums.

Chuchito Valdes©Andrea Canter

Born in Havana, young Chuchito was a child prodigy who studied classical, jazz and traditional music with the great Cuban keyboard masters, including his father Chucho. Originally encouraged to play drums, Chuchito was more interested in piano—the instrument his brother Emilio played initially. When he was 7, he and Emilio (age 5) switched instruments, and both have been happy with their choice ever since. But for a while in his teens, Chuchito “decided to put my piano studies aside and play baseball as a pitcher for the Cuban national team for my age group." Soon however he returned to the piano, studying classical and traditional music at La Escuela de Música Ignacio Cervantes. Chuchito first hear jazz as a preschooler, listening to his father’s recordings of Bill Evans, Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson, as well as the music of his father and grandfather. His first jazz performance came at age 16 and he soon found jobs accompanying Cuban vocalists. When father Chucho left Irakare to pursue a solo career, Chuchito joined the legendary band, becoming music director during his two-year tenure.

Emilio Valdes©Andrea Canter

In addition to performing with and leading Irakere, his resume includes international tours and festivals, including festivals in Chicago, Detroit, the Twin Cities, San Jose, Havana, Cancun and San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Festival. Today Chuchito lives in Cancun where he leads his Afro-Cuban Latin jazz ensemble, a six to nine piece band showcasing original compositions and arrangements of traditional Cuban music. “What we take from jazz are the harmonic changes,” says Chuchito. “It's very advanced and stretches chords beyond the seventh note. Jazz uses open and closed chords, polyphony and other things that we are drawing from to enrich Cuban music."

Chuchito Valdes will perform with his touring quartet at Catalina’s, featuring Australian Laksar Reese on saxophone and flute, Jonathan Paul on bass, and brother Emilio Valdes on drums.

Chuchito's brother, drummer Emilio Valdés, studied at the Guillermo Tomás Conservatory specializing in drums and percussion under Antonio Cortés, Marcos Varcalser, Guillermo Barreto, Jose Luis “Changuito” Quintana, and the legendary Enrique Plá. He co-founded the Changuito-Valdés Quintet Project before emigrating to Germany in 1993. In Europe he toured extensively with the legendary Lonnie Liston Smith and Craig Handy. Now living in New York City, Emilio Valdés has worked with guitarist/composer Juan-Carlos Formell and the Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Big Band.

A native of Sydney, Australian Laksar Reese currently leads his own Latin and straight ahead jazz ensembles from his home base in Chicago. A virtuoso on flute and tenor sax, Reese met Chuchito Valdes in Cancun and appeared on Valdes’ debut release, Encantado. Their collaboration has continued ever since, on both tours and recordings.

Jonathan Paul earned BA and Masters degrees in Jazz Studies from Indiana University, where he also studied Brazilian and Afro-Cuban music. A long-time member of Fareed Haque's band, Paul has also worked with New York pianist Deanna Witkowski, Danilo Perez, Jim Snidero, Howard Levy andTommy Dorsey Orchestra, as well as with Chuchito Valdés. For the last five years Jonathan has taught Bass and Jazz Combos at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL.