Chucho Valdés

Cuban pianist, composer, and arranger Chucho Valdés stands as the most influential figure in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. With a career spanning over 60 years, both as a solo artist and bandleader, Valdés has seamlessly integrated elements of Afro-Cuban music, jazz, classical music, rock, and more into a deeply personal style. A winner of seven GRAMMY® Awards and five Latin GRAMMY® Awards, Valdés received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences last year and was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2018, one of his iconic projects, "Jazz Batá 2," won the Latin GRAMMY for Best Latin Jazz Album and was named one of Billboard magazine’s 50 Best Latin Albums of the Decade. Born on October 9, 1941, in a family of musicians in Quivicán, Havana Province, Cuba, Dionisio Jesús "Chucho" Valdés Rodríguez has created an organic, deeply personal style by distilling elements of Afro-Cuban music, jazz, classical music, and rock. He is currently working on releasing a new album in 2024 titled "Cuba And Beyond" with his quartet, Royal Quartet. Produced by Paris Cabezas, Lorena Salcedo, and Chucho Valdés himself, this album encapsulates the essence of Cuban music and its global influences. Valdés collaborates closely with his wife, Lorena Salcedo, to bring Latin Jazz to audiences worldwide, spreading the vibrant heartbeat of Cuba to every corner of the globe.