Bebo Valdés

Cuban jazz legend Bebo Valdés is in charge of this wonderful soundtrack for Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal's animated film about the romance between a singer and a pianist, set in La Havana and New York of the '40s and '50s. In addition to Valdés, the main performers include Freddy Cole, Jimmy Heath, Idania Valdés, Germán Velasco, and Amadito Valdés, in a collection of both originals and jazz and bolero standards arranged by Michael Philip Mossman. Estrella Morente sings the main title song, "Lily."

In 2009 Chucho Valdes, a pianist, instrumentalist, and composer who already had four Grammy Awards and is regarded by specialists as one of the top four jazz players of the world, won the Grammy in the category of Best Latin Jazz Album. He shared the award with his father, Bebo Valdes, with the album Juntos Para Siempre (Together Forever). Father and son, both Cuban piano virtuosos and exceptionally talented composers got together to record this example of their musical greatness after their tour “Juntos para siempre” in Spain.

This album pairs one of the greatest flamenco singers of today, cantaor Diego El Cigala, with one of Cuba's finest Afro-Cuban pianists, Bebo Valdes. With Valdes (father of the great Chucho Valdes) born in 1918, there's a 40-year age difference between the pianist and the singer, but they do a fine job crossing generations and oceans to discover the commonalities between Caribbean and the Iberian music, coming up with a romantic marriage of the two cultures using rumbas, guajira, sons and boleros. Lagrimas Negras has won Latin Grammy Award of 2004 for Best Traditional Tropical Album.

This landmark set superbly documents the wide ranging talents of one of Cuba's greatest artists—expatriate pianist/composer/arranger Bebo Valdés—in the company of an impressive cast of New York's finest Latin jazz instrumentalists. The first disc, Suite Cubana, features the pianist, father of the more famous Chucho Valdés, leading an all-star big band through a collection of original compositions that revisit the classic sound of the golden age of Cuban music in a variety of infectious rhythms (mambo, bembé, son, guaracha, guajira, montuno, batanga, and comparsa) laid down by Valdés, Edgardo Miranda, John Benitez, Dafnis Prieto, Milton Cardona, Joe Gonzalez, and Rickard Valdés.
The melodies are memorable and the arrangements smooth and sophisticated.

In 2003, the venerable Afro-Cuban pianist Ramon "Bebo" Valdés teamed with the modern Spanish flamenco singer Diego "El Cigala" Salazar for an incredible fusion of pan-Latin styles on their Grammy Award-winning album LÁGRIMAS NEGRAS. Directed by Spanish director Fernando Trueba (BELLE EPOQUE, CALLE 54), BLANCO Y NEGRO EN VIVO presents a visual companion to LÁGRIMAS NEGRAS with a 19-song live performance recorded in Mallorca in June 2003, as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the album.

2008 live release from two Jazz legends: pianist Bebo Valdes and bassist Javier Colina. Recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York, this set finds the pair playing a fusion of Latin, Caribbean and American Jazz, which has, over the years, become the unique sound of Cuban Jazz. Apart from self-penned Valdes tunes, the pair also tackle Bill Evans' 'Waltz For Debby', amongst other covers, adding their own indelible stamp to the proceedings. From America to Cuba and back again, Live At The Vanguard takes you to places as only authentic Jazz music can.

The type of record you put on when you want the music to make you feel good, for a long time. Recorded in 1998 it's about as graceful as you can get, a descarga record that just grooves and grooves and grooves; five of the tunes are over nine minutes long. Bebo is on cruise control, his piano figures settling the mostly Spanish band into a groove, letting the soloists take their time. And his improvisations, they're the thing you wait for.

Hace tres años, Nueva Orleans fue arrasada por el Huracán Katrina dejando tras de sí cerca de 1.500 muertos. Esta catástrofe fue la que inspiró al cubano Chucho Valdés para componer su nuevo disco, Canto a Dios, una oración para que "no vuelva a suceder nada igual", ha explicado hoy el músico. En este álbum, que se presenta ahora en España, Chucho Valdés (hijo del también músico cubano Bebo Valdés) ha reunido cinco temas, dos de ellos inéditos, en los que junto con la Orquesta y el Coro Nacional de Cuba fusiona el jazz con la música sinfónica en un tributo a la ciudad de Nueva Orleans, el río Misisipi y África.