Performance

When Monday, 3 October 2011
Where National Concert Hall, Dublin, Main Auditorium
Presented by Waltons New School of Music
Supported by RTÉ lyric fm, Sunday Independent, Dublin Conrad Hotel

Chucho Valdés & The Afro-Cuban Messengers

Chucho Valdés • Piano
Mayra Caridad Valdés • Vocals
Lázaro Rivero Alarcón • Bass
Juan Carlos Rojas Castro • Drums
Yaroldy Abreu Robles • Percussion
Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé • Batá Drums & Vocals
Carlos Manuel Miyares Hernandez • Tenor Sax
Reinaldo Melián Álvarez • Trumpet

This concert was recorded for broadcast by RTÉ lyric fm.

‘Compared to everyone from Oscar Peterson and McCoy Tyner to Duke Ellington and Count Basie, [Chucho Valdés] is spoken of in reverent terms throughout the international community of jazz musicians.’
– Los Angeles Times

‘Valdés’s octave span might even have frightened Rachmaninov, and his headlong keyboard exploits – traversing most of jazz piano history – could burst open doors.’
– The Guardian

Hailed as ‘the dean of Latin jazz’ and ‘one of the world’s great virtuosic pianists’ by The New York Times, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger Dionisio Jesus ‘Chucho’ Valdés Rodríguez is one of the most acclaimed Cuban musicians of his generation. Chucho has recorded more than eighty albums and won five Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammys during his illustrious career, from his time as founding member of the innovative Cuban supergroup Irakere to his collaborations with such jazz masters as Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea. For this new project with The Afro-Cuban Messengers, Chucho was joined by a new generation of extraordinary Cuban musicians playing music from his Grammy Award winning album Chucho’s Steps, a brillant fusion of Cuban and African music and jazz. His performance in Dublin with the Afro-Cuban Messengers was simply one of the most exciting musical evenings of the year.