Father’s Day Special – Cuban Pianists Bebo y Chucho Valdés

Posted on 23. Jun, 2009 by Hector Aviles in Blog

Cuban father-son pianists have a great family and musical history:

In the music world is hard to find a better Father’s Day tribute than that of Cuban pianists Bebo and Chucho Valdés. Bebo Valdés, who last October celebrated his 90th birthday, along with his son’s 67th since they were both born on October 9th, is still going strong. This father-son family was separated by Bebo’s move out of Cuba in 1960 shortly after Castro’s Revolution win in 1959.

Bebo Valdés: Patriarch of Cuban Music

Bebo Valdés is a legendary artist and great patriarch of Cuban music, in many of its rich genres. Born in 1918 and performing with groups since the age of 13 to help sustain his family, Bebo Valdés continued to study music until completing his studies in Cuba’s Municipal Conservatory. Keep in mind that at this point in history, Cuba had only a few rythms to claim, mainly the Habanera, which is the original Cuban musical genre, then the danzon and danzonete, and bolero and the son, which were still emarging. Its not until the 1930′s and 1940′s that Cuba’s musical variety really explodes. While studying music, Bebo Valdés played in Cuba’s night clubs, and later became the piano sidekick of famous Cuban vedette Rita Montaner, who performed at the legendary Tropicana Club. From there, Bebo Valdés became the Tropicana’s house band leader and arranger, and as such accompanied various famous singers such as Benny More and Pio Leyva. With the frequent visit to Cuba of U.S. musical bands, Bebo quickly developed a love for Jazz, and became a pioneer of Cuban Jazz. He still found time to come up with new rhythms, including the “batanga” which competed with Perez Prado’s “mambo”, but never reached the same level of fame. Actually, story has it that Bebo Valdés participated in the experiments of Israel “Cachao” Lopez and his brother Orlando Lopez in the Lopez Brothers orchestra, which led to the development of the “mambo”.  Arsenio Rodriguez also claimed having invented the “mambo”, although he called his “Diablo” (devil). Perez Prado never claimed ownership, but was the artists who made the mambo famous in Mexico’s big market and later in the United States and internationally. Perez Prado is the artist most people associate with the “mambo”.

Pilar, Bebo, and boy Chucho

Bebo Valdés left Cuba in 1960, separating from his wife and 5 kids, one of which was Chucho Valdés, who was 19 at the time. Bebo established himself in Mexico briefly before joining the Lecuona Cuban Boys orchestra in Spain, and touring Europe with them. In one of the stops in Stockholm, he met and married his second wife, and stayed living there starting a new family, until he moved to Malaga, Spain in 2008.
The separation proved fatal for the relationship with his son, as they did not speak to each other for many years.

Chucho Valdés: a prodigy on his own right

Chucho Valdes

Chucho Valdés was born in 1941, the 1st of Bebo’s 5 children with his wife Pilar. Chucho followed his father’s steps and quickly became one of Cuba’s premier jazz piano players, along with the prodigious Gonzalo Rubalcaba. At age 31, Chucho Valdés formed one of Cuba’s most distinguished Afro-Cuban bands; Irakere. Many distinguished latin jazz musicians came out of Irakere, including the talented saxophone player Paquito D’Rivera and trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval, both of which launched successful solo careers. According to Paquito D’Rivera in his autobiography “My Sax Live” (“Mi Vida Saxual”), Irakere was really another attempt by this group of friends to create a jazz band under Cuba’s revolutionary government, which had banned jazz as American imperialist music. The addition of the “afro” elements in the percussion gave it the necessary camouflage for the Jazz friends to practice their beloved music. Chucho Valdés has traveled the world with Irakere, but unlike his famous Irakere alumni, Chucho has opted to continue to live in Cuba with his family.

Reconcilition and “Juntos Para Siempre”

With time, father and son forgot old differences and re-started their relationship. They first met in-person after many years, for a documentary called “Calle 54”. For that documentary they recorded an impromptu piano session, each playing a piano in front of the other. The video of that magical moment captures the beautiful song as well as the emotion of father and son, playing together and letting their emotions of their reunion flow through the piano keys. You can watch the video below and in our Video section of LatinoWebCafe.com.

Juntos Para Siempre cover

From that reunion in the “Calle 54” film, the idea was born to make a recording together. That idea finally became reality with “Juntos Para Siempre” (for always together), in which the record in the same format of just using the 2 pianos. The CD is a beautiful collection of mostly classic latin and jazz songs, in which father and son take turns having fun at the piano. It’s a joy to listen.

El Arte del Sabor cover

I also recommend the CD “El Arte del Sabor“, where Bebo Valdés plays with Israel “Cachao” Lopez and Carlos “Patato” Valdés. This is another must have for the Latin Jazz enthusiasts. It won Bebo 2 Grammys. Bebo Valdés is truly a legend of Cuban music. If you love Cuban music, and a good piano, you’ll love Bebo Valdés recordings.

I hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day!

Do you know of other famous father-son musicians that are still alive? Let us kow what you think and if you enjoy this kind of music. I’m finally back to writing after a couple of weeks off.

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Tags: Cachao, cuban music, latin jazz, latin music, Paquito D' Rivera