Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet
Legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés brings his Royal Quartet to SFJAZZ for the venue premiere of this exciting project, featuring his GRAMMY-nominated album Cuba & Beyond. This marks 60 years of musical alchemy from one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz, who co-founded the groundbreaking ensemble Irakere in 1973 and has earned seven Grammy Awards and six Latin Grammy Awards throughout his career.
Valdés's Royal Quartet unites four masterful Cuban-born instrumentalists: bassist José Armando Gola (known for his lengthy collaboration with Gonzalo Rubalcaba), the ambidextrous marvel Horacio "El Negro" Hernández on drums, and percussionist Roberto Jr. Vizcaino (son of longtime Valdés associate Roberto Vizcaino). Together, they create what audiences describe as "Cuban fire" — a high-voltage blend of Afro-Cuban rhythms, modern jazz, classical elements, and rock influences.
Expect an evening of contrasts: soothing yet invigorating music that shifts from slow and sultry passages to warp-speed polyrhythms. Valdés plays with remarkable duality, often performing contrasting riffs with each hand while his eyes stay fixed on his band and audience rather than the keys. Reviews describe his performances as "relaxed and full of energy," with the 76-year-old maestro moving his "nimble wrists and fingers with the ease of a man 50 years younger."
The Royal Quartet's repertoire includes Valdés's fiery original compositions alongside inventive takes on works by Chick Corea and Pedro Junco. His approach to improvisation is encyclopedic, drawing from an expansive palette of Afro-Cuban rhythms, modern jazz vocabulary, and classical repertoire. As The Boston Globe noted, "His mastery as composer and player is on full display: an encyclopedic vocabulary of Afro-Cuban rhythms and an expansive palette."
Valdés performs with minimal talking between songs, letting the music speak through what he calls "an intimate, exhilarating conversation" with his bandmates. His theatrical stage presence includes leaning so far into the keyboard that his piano bench lifts off the ground, and emphatic arm gestures celebrating the music's big moments. This is contemporary Cuban jazz at its most sophisticated and thrilling.