Chucho Valdés »The Creation«
Valdés
Redemption and liberation
The pianist Chucho Valdés has always redefined the boundaries of Afro-Cuban music. His blend of Caribbean folk and dance music, jazz, rock and classical is the gold standard in Latin American music. Marking his 80th birthday back in autumn 2021, the old master and the Yoruban Orchestra now present his latest project »The Creation« – a work full of captivating West African rhythms and the magical singing of the Santería singers.
»The Creation«, a story of redemption and liberation, is about the arrival of the Nigerian Yoruba slaves in the Caribbean, and thereby ties in directly to Chucho Valdés’s musical roots. In post-revolutionary Cuba of the 1960s and 70s, jazz was regarded as imperialist Yankee music. Musicians such as Valdés therefore Africanised jazz and invoked the island’s historico-cultural roots. With its mixture of jazz, Afro-Cuban elements and funk, Valdés’s legendary band Irakere laid the foundation for contemporary Cuban music.
Performers
Chucho Valdés piano
Yoruban Orchestra
musical director Hilario Durán
musical director John Beasley
Programme
»The Creation«
Series
Jazz at the Elbphilharmonie