In baseball-crazy Cuba, Dionisio Jesús Valdés Rodriguez didn’t get outside much to play with his friends. While his buddies were fielding and batting the ball, the young Valdés was inside his home playing the piano.
Lucky for the music world that he did.
Valdés, known as Chucho, is one of the most formidable jazz musicians anywhere. Beginning with his seminal jazz fusion work in Cuba to his solo playing around the globe, Valdés is a towering figure in his genre. He will present his newest work Thursday at the Fox Tucson Theatre in a UA Presents show.
Growing up, the Valdés home was filled with music, including American jazz.
“My father had records by Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington,” Valdés said.
Steeped in Afro-Cuban music and American jazz, Valdés began exploring the genres in the late 1960s, adding rock and other Latin rhythms. His breakthrough came in 1973 with the Cuban jazz fusion group Irakere.
The original group, which included stellar island musicians Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo Sandoval, grabbed the attention of the jazz world. Irakere won a Grammy in 1980, and remained active to 2005.
Four decades later, Valdés has re-created the seminal Irakere sound.
Next week, Valdés kicks off his U.S. tour, dubbed Irakere 40 featuring Chucho Valdés & the Afro-Cuban Messengers, along with the release of “Tribute to Irakere (Live in Marciac)” on Oct. 20 with the Afro-Cuban Messengers.
Valdés said the group is primarily composed of younger musicians who grew up listening to Irakere, but is an ensemble that is developing its own chops.
His new work comes as the U.S. and Cuba are tearing down the Sugar Cane Curtain that has separated the two for more than 50 years.
Unlike his father and former bandmates, D’Rivera and Sandoval, Valdés never sought to leave Cuba. He views the diplomatic opening of Cuba as promising. He said the musical interchanges will become more frequent and productive for musicians in both countries, and that music fans will benefit.
Musicians, regardless of where they live, want to share their music, said Valdés.
“Music can heal,” he said.
