For fans of Afro-Cuban jazz, no name or man is bigger than piano virtuoso Chucho Valdés, Cuba's "godfather of jazz." The 72-year-old founder of Irakere, one of Cuba’s most famous Latin jazz bands, seems genetically predisposed to his art: he’s the son of famed Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés, who is still making music today. And at well over six feet tall, Valdés’s arms easily span the 88 keys he plays so passionately.
The Grammy Award-winning innovator, who counts Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock among his collaborators and has recorded more than 80 albums, brings the sounds of his homeland to Vancouver’s Chan Centre on Nov. 2. In this brief email interview with CBC Music, Valdés touches on his relationship with his father, taking risks and “getting” jazz.
Q: Was it a risky venture when you first started intermingling and fusing different genres together? Were purists up in arms?
A: It was very risky and many musicians from previous generations didn’t want to accept that concept because they said that I was mutilating the tradition with that kind of fusion. They said Cuban music should be pure, but audiences from new generations accepted this as an achievement and as a way of updating Cuban music.
Q: Your father is a famous jazz musician in his own right. Did a sense of rebellion against him play any part in your foray into what’s often labelled "fusion" with Irakere?
A: I had my father’s full support because, two decades earlier, he did the same thing with music from that time period.
Q: You’ve referred to your father as your maestro in interviews. What’s integral to a good maestro/student relationship?
A: Who said such a thing? Who had such a foolish thought? Everyone knows that the relationship with my father has been marvelous and that I’ve always said that without Bebo there would be no Chucho. It entails mutual respect.
Q: What’s the biggest misconception about Afro-Latin jazz?
A: Calling it simply Latin jazz. Those who started this style of music, including Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Mario Bauzá said that this was called Afro-Cuban jazz. [Jazz] has become a fusion and has become enriched.
Q: A lot of people still talk about not “getting” jazz. How did you find a way to make it make sense for you?
A: In the first place, it’s two different things to be a musician and to be a student of music when it comes to understanding any style of music. Some people say jazz is music for musicians, but there are millions of people who aren’t musicians and who understand jazz very well. It all depends on how you educate your ear and the type of music you listen to.
Q: What makes a good jazz musician?
A: Studying, researching, getting informed, exchanging knowledge.
Q: Which up-and-coming jazz musicians impress you the most?
A: Brad Mehldau, [Joey] Calderazzo and David Virelles, to mention a few.
Catch Chuchos Valdés at Vancouver’s Chan Centre on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.
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