New Mexico Jazz Festival: Chucho Valdes Royal Quartet

Cuban pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader Chucho Valdés is one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. Over his 60-year career, he has earned seven Grammy Awards, six Latin Grammys, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is also a member of the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2025, he was named an NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) Jazz Master.

Valdes has pushed boundaries in pursuit of new expressions in Afro-Cuban music and his influence in the genre is immeasurable with his work establishing the standard by which younger generations set out to create their own. Perhaps best known as the founder, pianist, and main composer and arranger of Irakere, a landmark ensemble in Cuban music which he led for more than 30 years, he has, since 2005, focused on highlighting his work as a pianist, leading small ensembles like the Afro-Cuban Messengers and his acclaimed Royal Quartet. Valdes last appeared at the Lensic as part of the 2018 New Mexico Jazz Festival in a stunning duet with fellow pianist, Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

The Royal Quartet brings together a masterful lineup of Cuban-born instrumentalists, including bassist José Armando Gola, known for his collaboration with Gonzalo Rubalcaba; Horacio “El Negro” Hernández on drums, the driving force behind the premier Latin and Latin-fused music of the past two decades known for his unique Latin Fusion style that melds the folkloric Cuban clave with the deep grooves of today’s Jazz, Pop, and Rock;” and percussionist Roberto Junior Vizcaino, son of longtime Valdés associate Roberto Vizcaino and one of the new generation of Cuban percussionists. The Royal Quartet’s Grammy-nominated 2024 debut, Cuba and Beyond, features a collection of Valdés’s “fiery compositions” as well as inventive takes on the works of Chick Corea and Pedro Junco, and, as Latin Jazz Network notes, “Mr Valdés’ sumptuous piano sound is brilliantly caught in this extraordinary studio album… his eternal genius shining through.”