Chucho Valdés to celebrate Irakere's 50th anniversary

Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Irakere group with a tour of the cities of Miami and San Francisco, in the United States, as announced by the artist on social networks.

The first concert will take place on February 9 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, followed by two performances, one on February 15 and the other on February 18 at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco.

Along with Chucho Valdés, these concerts will feature musicians such as José Gola, Horacio The black Hernandez, Roberto Vizcaino Jr., Eddy de Armas Jr. and Carlos Averhoff Jr.

Although Irakere's beginnings date back to 1962, when Chucho Valdés joined guitarist Carlos Emilio Morales and saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, it was not until 1972 that the group performed under that name at the Amadeo Roldán Theater in Havana.

Its name, which comes from the Yoruba language, made clear the purpose of working with the Afro-Cuban heritage of our music to create a repertoire based primarily on jazz.

The presence of musicians such as Arturo Sandoval, Miguel Díaz, Miguel Díaz AngáOrlando Valle MaracaCésar López, Germán Velazco, Jorge L. Chicot, José Luis Cortés and José Miguel Crego, give prestige to the work of the Irakere group.

For their valuable musical work, they won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording in 1980 and the following year they were nominated in the same category for Irakere 2. Finally, in 1999 they obtained the nomination for Best Tropical Latin Album for Babalú Ayé.