Chucho Valdés

In the 1940s, jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie encountered Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo. Their subsequent collaborations changed music and marked the start of a genre that came to be known as Latin jazz. As Latin rhythms and instrumentation came into the jazz sound, there was also a flow of harmonic sophistication that went the other way. Nobody embodies this cross-pollination more than Chucho Valdés, the master Cuban pianist who will be leading his band, The Afro-Cuban Messengers, tonight at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts.

“Blending Afro-Cuban music and jazz is a concept I’ve been working with since my days with Irakere,” said the 70-year old musician, referring to the influential band he formed in the early ‘70s. “It’s more rhythmic and upbeat, but stays true to the jazz form.”

Dionisio Jesús “Chucho” Valdés Rodríguez was born into music. His father, Bebo Valdés, was a famed band director who led the house big band at Havana’s storied Tropicana club. His technical abilities on the piano are unrivaled, and it was only in the past fifteen years or so that American audiences have been able to see and hear him regularly. Since 1998, Valdés has released nine albums which have earned him three Grammy awards, the last being for his 2010 release, Chucho’s Steps.

With Chucho’s Steps, Valdés pays tribute to the artists that influenced him. He formed The Afro-Cuban Messengers for the recording, and the name of the band is in itself an homage to The Jazz Messengers, the long running group led by legendary drummer Art Blakey. On the album, Valdés also pays his respect to trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, keyboardists Joe Zawinul and Herbie Hancock, and of course, the great Dizzy Gillespie.

“All the arrangements are true to form, but I add my personal style,” Valdés explained. “I’m greeting each artist in my own way.”

For tonight’s program, Valdés says the audience can expect a lot of material from Chucho’s Steps, songs from his Irakere days, as well as compositions from a forthcoming recording. Accompanying Valdés on stage will be his sister, vocalist Mayra Caridad Valdés, bassist Lázaro Rivero Alarcón, drummer Juan Carlos Rojas Castro, percussionist Yaroldy Abreu Robles, batá drummer Dreiser Durruthy Bambolé, tenor saxophonist Carlos Manuel Miyares Hernandez and trumpeter Reinaldo Melián Álvarez.

Chucho Valdés & the Afro-Cuban Messengers perform tonight at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. Dr. Greg Robinson, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, School of Music, GMU, will host a pre-concert discussion for ticket holders that will begin 45 minutes prior to the performance. $23-$46.