Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet & Invités

Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet & Guests for his 85th birthday!

It is impossible to evoke Chucho Valdés without associating him with Afro-Cuban jazz – and vice versa.

Son of Bebo Valdés (pianist and conductor, pioneer of mambo), Chucho, also a pianist, founded the mythical Irakere in 1973 and persevered for many years in playing jazz on an island, Cuba, where even the slightest breeze from North America was generally considered a carrier of imperialist bacillus.

For this obstinacy, for the Herculean work he accomplished, and for his influence, which far exceeds the sole sphere of Cuban jazz musicians, Chucho has already entered history. It is impossible to evoke Chucho Valdés without associating him with Afro-Cuban jazz – and vice versa.

Son of Bebo Valdés (pianist and conductor, pioneer of mambo), Chucho, also a pianist, founded the mythical Irakere in 1973 and persevered for many years in playing jazz on an island, Cuba, where even the slightest breeze from North America was generally considered a carrier of imperialist bacillus.

For this obstinacy, for the Herculean work he accomplished, and for his influence, which far exceeds the sole sphere of Cuban jazz musicians, Chucho has already entered history. It is impossible to evoke Chucho Valdés without associating him with Afro-Cuban jazz – and vice versa.

Son of Bebo Valdés (pianist and conductor, pioneer of mambo), Chucho, also a pianist, founded the mythical Irakiere in 1973 and persevered for many years in playing jazz on an island, Cuba, where even the slightest breeze from North America was generally considered a carrier of imperialist bacillus.

For this obstinacy, for the Herculean work he accomplished, and for his influence, which far exceeds the sole sphere of Cuban jazz musicians, Chucho has already entered history.

• Louis-Julien Nicolaou Pianist with exceptional technique, gifted with unparalleled velocity and virtuosity, he recorded seven albums for the Blue Note Records label between 1991 and 2003. Awarded at numerous i