Some live Afro-Cuban Jazz tonight, compliments of the great father and son combination Bebo and Chucho Valdes, recorded live in concert during the 32nd Vittoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival in Spain in 2009 by Radio 3 of Radio Nacional Espana.
Bebo Valdes is one of the most prominent pianists, arrangers and composers from the Golden Age of Cuban Music. Having migrated from Cuba first to Mexico and then to Sweden and most recently to Spain, he is still an active practitioner in Cuban music and Latin Jazz and films like Calle 54 by Fernando Trueba which feature his work have spread his message to a wider audience.
In this concert he is joined by his son Chucho Valdes, also a prominent pianist and band leader in Cuban music and Jazz. Together they recorded the well received Juntos Para Siempre for Sony in 2008.
The concert is a little under 90 minutes and well worth the listening. Because it was live, there was a lot of dead air between numbers and some banter which I cut down from the original two hour concert. In any event it's a nice way to end out the weekend and get ready for Thanksgiving.
Enjoy.
