The acclaimed living legend of Afro-Cuban music, Chucho Vald\u00e9s, winner of 15 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, is an internationally renowned composer and pianist celebrated for his masterful ability to blend elements of Afro-Cuban musical traditions, jazz, classical music and rock into a deeply personal style.<\/p>\n\n
The \u2018Chucho Vald\u00e9s Royal Quartet\u2019 will perform pieces from the album \u2018Cuba & Beyond\u2019 (InnerJazz, 2024), winner of the 2025 Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. The album features tracks such as \u2018Tatomania\u2019, \u2018Mozart a la cubana\u2019 and \u2018Armando’s Rhumba\u2019, his personal tribute to pianist and lifelong friend Chick Corea.<\/p>\n\n
Chucho Vald\u00e9s, on piano, will be joined by Jos\u00e9 A. Gola (double bass and electric bass), Roberto Jr. Vizca\u00edno Torre (percussion) and Horacio Hern\u00e1ndez \u2018El Negro\u2019 (drums).<\/p>\n\n
Throughout his acclaimed musical career spanning more than 70 years, Chucho Vald\u00e9s has received the \u2018Lifetime Achievement Award\u2019 from the Latin Recording Academy; been inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame; received the NEA Jazz Masters 2025 honour, the highest recognition a jazz musician can achieve in the United States; and the Leonard Bernstein Grand Prize (United States) \u2018For the Elevation of Music in Society\u2019.<\/p>\n\n
Dionisio Jes\u00fas \u2018Chucho\u2019 Vald\u00e9s Rodr\u00edguez was born into a family of musicians in Quivic\u00e1n, in the province of Havana, Cuba, on 9 October 1941. His first teacher and greatest influence was his father, Ram\u00f3n \u2018Bebo\u2019 Vald\u00e9s, a pianist, composer and orchestra leader. By the age of three, Chucho was already playing the piano by ear, using both hands and performing melodies he heard on the radio in every key. At the age of five, he began taking private lessons in piano, music theory and solf\u00e8ge, eventually completing his studies at the Havana Municipal Conservatory of Music, where he graduated at just 14 years old.<\/p>\n\n
He gained worldwide recognition as the founder, principal composer and arranger of \u2018Irakere\u2019 (1973\u20132005), which he established alongside Paquito D’Rivera. This small big band became renowned for its distinctive fusion of Afro-Cuban ritual music, popular Afro-Cuban styles, Cuban dance music, jazz, classical music and rock.<\/p>\n\n
Chucho Vald\u00e9s has accompanied singers and trios, as well as composing works for orchestras and large ensembles. His most recent major composition was \u2018La Creaci\u00f3n\u2019 (The Creation), written to celebrate his 80th birthday in 2021. This three-movement suite for small ensemble, voices and big band tells the story of creation according to the Regla de Ocha, the Afro-Cuban religious tradition.<\/p>\n\n