Chucho Valdés

Cuban pianist and founder of Irakere, the most decorated figure in modern Afro-Cuban jazz and a multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy winner.

Jesús 'Chucho' Valdés was born in Quivicán, Cuba in 1941, the son of the legendary pianist Bebo Valdés. In 1973 he founded Irakere, fusing jazz, rock, classical music and Afro-Cuban batá-drum traditions into a groundbreaking sound. A virtuoso pianist and composer of standards such as 'Mambo Influenciado', he has won numerous Grammy and Latin Grammy awards over a career spanning more than five decades and is widely regarded as the most influential living figure in Afro-Cuban jazz.

Role

pianist, bandleader, composer

Era

Revival & Global Salsa

Genre

Afro-Cuban jazz / Cubop (Latin jazz)

Origin

Quivicán, Cuba