Chucho Valdés, the most decorated Cuban pianist in the international jazz scene, celebrates his 85th birthday this Friday on one of the most iconic stages in the world: the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, where he will perform two concerts — this Friday and Saturday — alongside a quintet of stars from American jazz.
"One of the great and true masters of the world, the virtuoso Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Valdés returns to the Rose Theater to celebrate his 85th birthday, performing classics with a Latin twist," announces Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) on its website, a recognized nonprofit institution dedicated to the performance, education, and promotion of this artistic genre.
"Valdés offers a fascinating exploration of his deep roots in American jazz. Accompanied by a stellar quintet that includes the legendary saxophonist Joe Lovano, the innovative bassist John Patitucci, the world-renowned trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and the prodigious drummer Marcus Gilmore, Valdés showcases his passionate, scholarly, and expressive interpretation in an unforgettable birthday celebration," he adds.
The musician born in Quivicán on October 9, 1941, will review in these performances, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., a career defined by the ongoing dialogue between jazz and Afro-Cuban roots, as he mentioned in a phone interview with EFE.
Before each performance, at 6:30 p.m., an introductory lecture is offered to the audience, and attendees can use their ticket to access the Late Night Session at Dizzy's Club at 10:45 p.m.
The celebration of the 85th anniversary began on October 3 at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, with the same guest musicians, and continues on October 20 in Charleston and on the 23rd at Cornell University.
In 2027, the tour will extend to San Francisco —four nights at the end of May— and to Paris on April 28, where he will perform with his Royal Quartet.
At the same time as the tour, Valdés released his album UNCUT in September, his first solo piano album in approximately 20 years, published by InnerJazz/InnerCat Music Group.
The album consists of eight pieces recorded in a single continuous take, without studio edits or additional takes, and Valdés himself described it as possibly his best solo piano album.
The maestro's 85 years are backed by one of the most recognized careers in the world of jazz: seven Grammy Awards, several Latin Grammys, his induction into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame that same year, and, in 2025, the title of NEA Jazz Master 2025, the highest honor awarded by the United States to a jazz musician.
His story begins in music from the cradle: son of the legendary pianist and conductor Bebo Valdés, Chucho graduated from the Municipal Conservatory of Music in Havana at the age of 14 and made his professional debut in 1959.
In 1973, he founded Irakere alongside Paquito D'Rivera and other Cuban musicians, a group that blended jazz, afrocuban music, rock, and elements of Yoruba ritual music, and which won the Grammy for Best Latin Recording in 1979.
Valdés resides in Broward County, Florida, and publicly declared himself an exile in November 2024.
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