Bele Bele En La Habana

Amazon.com

His two decades of success as leader, main composer, and arranger of the supercharged Cuban jazz fusion group Irakere have often obscured the talents of Jesus "Chucho" Valdés as a pianist. Now Valdés seems ready, indeed eager, to take his playing center stage. Bele Bele en la Habana, recorded in Toronto early in 1998, features Valdés with a stripped-down quartet playing a program of originals and Cuban standards. It's an impressive show. With sure technique, Valdés seamlessly blends elements of jazz (postbop phrasing and rich harmonies reminiscent of Bill Evans), classical, and Afro-Cuban music. He offers high energy and lyricism ("Son Montuno"), an implacable groove ("Con Poco Coco," "La Sitiera," "But Not for Me"), and even a dash of melodrama now and then (the classic "Tres Lindas Cubanas"). Irakere might have lost their leader, but jazz has gained a superior pianist. --Fernando Gonzalez

Product description

original 1998 cd release on the blue note label

Review

Hurricane Chucho, a much-revered maestro in Havana, president of the Havana Jazz Festival and the embodiment of modern Cuban jazz piano, is better represented by this date than he has ever been. The music fairly leaps from your speakers, piano and rhythms grabbing you forcefully by the sensibilities and compelling you towards a journey that is equal parts dazzling and delightful. -- Jazz Times, ISBN13: B000007QQF ISBN10: B000007QQF Material Type: audioCD