CHUCHO VALDES 85TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FEAT. ETIENNE CHARLES / Cape May Convention Hall / Sunday, Oct 25 / 1:00 pm

The Story

Cuban pianist-composer-arranger-bandleader and living legend Chucho Valdés is one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. Named a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, his remarkable career includes earning seven Grammy Awards and six Latin Grammy Awards, along with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences as well as being inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. Still curious and restlessly creative after seven decades of music-making, Valdés fused elements of the Afro-Cuban music tradition, jazz, classical music, rock and more into his own distinctive style. He brings his Royal Quartet featuring special guest trumpeter Etienne Charles to the Exit Zero Jazz Festival for a festive 85th birthday celebration.

Born on Oct. 9, 1941 in a town south of Havana called Quivicán, his father Bebo Valdés was an extraordinary player in his own right. “Music was the soundtrack of my childhood because I was born the son of a great musician, so I think I was born with music inside of me,” said Chucho. “My dream was always to do something different in terms of sound. I could hear things on the piano in my head, I couldn’t do them yet but I had them in me. And with time and patience, I was able to do it.”

Beginning private piano lessons at age 5, by age 14 he had matriculated through the Conservatorio Municipal de Música de la Habana and the following year formed his first trio. In 1967, Valdés joined the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna alongside saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera. In 1973, he formed the innovative band Irakere with Paquito and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. In May of ’77, Dizzy Gillespie saw the group on a trip to Havana and took notice, later giving a glowing report to concert promoter George Wein, who ended up bringing them in as a surprise act at the 1978 Newport Jazz Festival. Their performance there was a massive success, leading to Columbia Records president Bruce Lundvall signing the band. To date, Valdés has recorded over 40 albums as a leader or co-leader for the Blue Note, Candid, Sunnyside, Mack Avenue, Motéma and Calle 54 Records labels. 

While his music grew out of the Cuban bolero, Valdés was greatly influenced by such jazz piano greats as Art Tatum, Duke Ellington and Bud Powell. He also credits his father for pointing the way. “It was a privilege to have been Bebo’s son, because I was born into music,” he said. “My intention was always to be a Cuban artist, that is, to see out the roots, the Cuban rhythms within jazz, and to be able to make other music. And in my way of working, the African rhythm is always there. Why? Because it’s out identity — the roots of Cuban music.”

The Sound

Joined by guest trumpeter Etienne Charles and his Royal Quartet, featuring three generations of top Cuban musicians, including drummer Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, bassist José A. Gola, bass and percussionist Roberto Jr. Vizcaíno, Valdés will perform material from 2024’s Cuba & Beyond (InnerJazz Music), which masterfully blends traditional Afro-Cuban folkloric rhythms with modern jazz. Expect them to perform Chucho originals like “Punto Cubano” and “Tatomania” alongside inventive interpretations of Chick Corea’s “Armando’s Rhumba” and Cuban composer Pedro Junco’s “Nosotros.” They may even deliver their clever “Mozart à la Cubana,” essentially a clave take on Mozart’s “Sonata No. 16 in C Major.”

Where & When: Cape May Convention Hall, Sunday, October 25, 2:00 PM