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Musical Dynasties - The Valdes Family on Video

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Yesterday’s post on 10 albums from Irakere alumni got me thinking about the impact of bands that display long-term perseverance. A band like Irakere leaves such a wide swatch of influence, simply due to the amount of time that it exists. It reaches several generations worth of listeners, who all find ways to integrate the influence into their lives. Basic artistic survival requires the band to constantly reinvent itself through the infusion of new musicians and the exploration of different musical approaches. Eventually, a long lasting group becomes the centerpiece of a musical scene; the foundation for an artistic community. A group that exists for several decades qualifies as a musical dynasty - a group that touches massive amounts of people and changes the fundamental design of the musical scene.

One of the great family dynasties in Cuban music is intimately connected to Irakere - the Valdes family. Bebo, the elder Valdes, sat at the piano and led bands at Havana’s Tropicana during the 1950s. He disappeared into obscurity in Sweden - only to revive his career in the late years of his life. His son Chucho changed the shape of Cuban music and rocked the jazz world with Irakere, amazing the world with his staggering piano technique, a dazzling sense of harmony, and an innovative compositional approach. Bebo’s daughter, Mayra Caridad Valdes dedicated her musical passions to vocal work. After spending years as a musicologist, Mayra jumped headfirst into performance, singing with Irakere, Chucho’s quartet, and more. Chucho’s son Chuchito carried on the family tradition, leading his own band at the piano with his family’s genetic disposition to musicality pushing him into new frontiers. Three generations of the Valdes family have touched the world - and it has never been the same.

The videos below offer a great opportunity to check out the Valdes family dynasty performing live, both together and individually. One video features Bebo performing solo, another shows Chucho performing with his quartet, the next captures Mayra singing with Chucho’s group, followed by a video of Chucho and Bebo performing together. The final video captures the youngest member of the Valdes musical clan, Chuchito, demonstrating the future of the family tree. There’s quite a bit of music in each family member, definitely worth checking out--enjoy!

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