Tuesday, January 21, 2003

WILMINGTON, NC -- The Chucho Valdés Quartet, led by Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdés, will take the stage in UNCW’s Kenan Auditorium at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 11. The group will treat the audience to its interpretation of the complexities of jazz and Cuban culture. This performance is part of the 2002-03 Arts in Action Performance Series sponsored by the university’s Campus Activities and Involvement Center.

Quartet leader Chucho Valdés is a pianist, composer, bandleader, music professor and president of the Havana Jazz Festival. Other musicians who comprise the quartet are bassist Lazaro Alarcon, drummer Ramses Bazalt and percussionist Yaroldy Robles.

Valdés, a fleet-fingered artist steeped in classical music as well as Latin polyrhythms, is known for his synthesis of jazz, Caribbean and Afro-Cuban music. His enormous range and ability create “ferociously cerebral songs that break boundaries, cross oceans and are too spirited for any embargo to contain,” according to a review in The New York Times.

Valdés’ father, Bebo, served as musical director of the Havana-based Tropicana Casino and as his first piano teacher. Chucho Valdés began working on his fundamentals at the age of three. As a young student, he saw his father work with many stars of American music including Ray Brown, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie and Nat King Cole. He also received formal training in classical music and traditional Cuban music.

In 1965, Chucho joined the Elio Reve Orchestra and two years later helped co-found the legendary Orquesta de Mœsica Moderna. This band was a home for musicians like Valdés who were not only interested in traditional Cuban music but who wanted to play jazz and explore other modern styles. Saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval were also members of this orchestra, which spawned the band Irakere in 1973. The group won a Grammy for their debut American album.

Box Office and Ticket Information

Tickets are $6 for UNCW students and children age 12 and under; $12 for UNCW faculty/staff and senior citizens; and $18 for all others. Ticket holders for the groupÅfs Oct. 7 performance that was canceled do not need to obtain new tickets; they can present their original tickets on the evening of the rescheduled concert. For tickets, call the Kenan Auditorium Box Office at 910/962-3500 or 800-732-3643, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Arts in Action Performance Series information is on the Web at www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/arts.