Community Corner
Manuel Valera, Aruan Ortiz and Chuchito Valdes. The Soul of Cuban Piano. ROOTS AND RIBS FESTIVAL of music and food. at OSPAC
THE SOUL OF CUBAN PIANO
3 Outstanding Pianists come to the OSPAC stage today.
Manuel Valera stands
in a long line of virtuoso Cuban-born musicians based in New York. As a
pianist, he's established himself as a versatile first-call musician;
as a bandleader, he's often found new connections between pan-Latin
rhythms and modern jazz styles. His New Cuban Express band, a sextet
heavy on rhythm and percussion, is his first to specifically address
Cuban music. The group's new album comes out on Valera's own label later
this year.
In a bill which paired two different visions of Latin jazz in the 21st century, Valera opened for Alexis Cuadrado's A Lorca Soundscapeproject
at 92Y Tribeca in downtown New York City Wednesday night. The shows
were broadcast on air via WBGO and in an online video webcast at NPR
Music. For more information about this series and a full concert
archive, visit npr.org/checkoutlive.
Aruán Ortiz is
a critically acclaimed Cuban pianist, award-winning composer, and a
solid producer and educator, not only on the New York City scene, but
internationally as well.
Named “the latest Cuban wunderkind to
arrive in the United States” by BET Jazz, this classically trained
violist and pianist from Santiago de Cuba, considers himself “a curious
person who loves music”, and portrays his music as an architectural
structure of sounds, incorporating contemporary classical music,
Afro-Cuban rhythms, and improvisation as primary material for his
compositions. He has received a number of awards such as Latin Jazz
Corner’s Arranger of the Year (2011) for his contribution on the album,
“El Cumbanchero” (Jazzheads 2011) by flutist Mark Weinstein; Best Jazz
Interpretation, Festival de Jazz in Vic, Spain (2000); and Semifinalist,
Jas Hennessy Piano Solo Competition, Montreux, Switzerland (2001).
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Chuchito Valdes
For the Valdés family, music is a dominant gene.
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Grammy- and Latin-Grammy-nominated Latin jazz pianist Chuchito Valdés, has followed in the footsteps of his famed father, Chucho Valdés and grandfather Bebo Valdés — all acclaimed piano players from Havana, Cuba.
Chuchito's next album was recorded with a 14-piece Latin jazz band, in front of a live studio audience at WNYC in New York City. It is a tribute to his grandfather Bebo, who passed away this past March, at age 94.
“I
had a lot of respect for my grandfather,” says Chuchito. “He was the
motor of my family. He was way ahead of his time. Bebo did a lot of
arrangements for world-famous musicians.”
In this album, the
third-generation musician explains his mission is to celebrate Bebo’s
legacy and impact around the world by going back to the beginning and
performing his grandfather’s arrangements from the Tropicana Nightclub
in Havana, where Bebo played the 1950s. Chuchito, however, is throwing
in a splash of his own more contemporary notes.
“When there’s a
mix, everything is delicious,” says Chuchito, who can’t help but sing
from emotion while he leads his orchestra. “This is something he would
have been very proud of and humbled by, since despite his greatness, he
was a very modest man.”
