SEP 22 | Chucho Valdés La Creación
Sep 22, 2022
Paramount Theatre
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
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Original show description below.
In celebration of his 80th birthday in 2021, Cuban piano legend Chucho Valdés went back to the beginning, the very beginning. La Creación (The Creation), his new three-movement suite for big band, Afro-Cuban percussion and vocals, recounts the story of creation according to La Regla de Ocha, the Afro-Cuban religion also known as Santería. This personal project featuring Valdés performing with both the Yoruban Orchestra, MONK'estra, and Music Directors Hilario Durán and John Beasley makes its Bay Area debut with this performance.
Encompassing sacred Yoruba chants, the blues, post-bop harmonies and what Valdés describes as “an atmosphere in the style of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew,” it’s an extraordinary career-spanning masterwork rendered with the vibrant sonic palette he forged in the epochal Cuban jazz fusion band Irakere.
“This new work represents the accumulation of all my experiences and everything I’ve learned in music. I think it’s my masterpiece—so far.” — Chucho Valdés
As the heir to a verdant Cuban jazz tradition kindled partly by his father, piano patriarch Bebo Valdés (1918 – 2013), Chucho wasn’t exactly the Big Bang of Havana’s post-revolutionary jazz scene. But in the face of official indifference he turned Irakere into an international creative force known for seminal compositions like “La Misa Negra.” With fellow Cuban piano master Hilario Durán and John Beasley serving as music directors of the talent-laden 14-piece Yoruban Orchestra, La Creación extends Valdés’s legacy with sweeping grandeur.
Chucho Valdés describes La Creación as "an atmosphere in the style of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew ... it’s my masterpiece."
CONCERT SPONSORS
Jeffrey A. Bluestone and Leah Rosenkrantz Bluestone
Bill and Margie Holodnak
Darian, Rick, Adam, and Ben Swig
Barry X and Barbara Z Lynn
[Chucho Valdés is] gigantic, the towering – in all senses – genius of Cuban jazz piano, probably now the island’s greatest instrumentalist.
The Daily Telegraph
[Chucho Valdés is] gigantic, the towering – in all senses – genius of Cuban jazz piano, probably now the island’s greatest instrumentalist.
The Daily Telegraph
Personnel
Chucho Valdés bandleader, composer, piano
Hilario Duran Torres conductor, arranger, keyboards
John Rule Beasley conductor, arranger, keyboards
Carlos Fernandez Arias tenor saxophone, flute
Marcus Strickland alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Etienne Charles trumpet, flugelhorn
Brian Lynch trumpet, flugelhorn
James Ford trumpet
Brian Swartz trumpet
Francisco Torres trombone
Wendell Kelly trombone
Ryan Dragon trombone
Lemar Guillary trombone
Bob Sheppard woodwinds
Tom Luer woodwinds
Adam Schroeder woodwinds
Jose Gola double bass, electric bass
Dafnis Prieto drums
Roberto Vizcaino Torre percussion
Erick Barberia L De Guevara lead bata, vocals
Yosvani Gonzalez Franco bata, vocals
Felipe Saria Linares bata, vocals
Yenisel Valdes Fuentes vocals
He can tickle the ivories with the soft grace of Bill Evans and dazzle with the thunderous dexterity of Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson.
All About Jazz on Chucho Valdés
Personnel
Chucho Valdés bandleader, composer, piano
Hilario Duran Torres conductor, arranger, keyboards
John Rule Beasley conductor, arranger, keyboards
Carlos Fernandez Arias tenor saxophone, flute
Marcus Strickland alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Etienne Charles trumpet, flugelhorn
Brian Lynch trumpet, flugelhorn
James Ford trumpet
Brian Swartz trumpet
Francisco Torres trombone
Wendell Kelly trombone
Ryan Dragon trombone
Lemar Guillary trombone
Bob Sheppard woodwinds
Tom Luer woodwinds
Adam Schroeder woodwinds
Jose Gola double bass, electric bass
Dafnis Prieto drums
Roberto Vizcaino Torre percussion
Erick Barberia L De Guevara lead bata, vocals
Yosvani Gonzalez Franco bata, vocals
Felipe Saria Linares bata, vocals
Yenisel Valdes Fuentes vocals
He can tickle the ivories with the soft grace of Bill Evans and dazzle with the thunderous dexterity of Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson.
All About Jazz on Chucho Valdés
Watch & Listen
Chucho Valdés
Chucho's Mood
Chucho Valdés
El Güije
Chucho Valdés
Chucho's Mood
Chucho Valdés
El Güije