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Reflections Upon an Influential Education: 10 Albums from Irakere Alumni

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Influential bands that exist over a long time period provide more than just great entertainment; they often serve as schools for the musicians that constitute the group. A group with strong staying power almost always has a foundation built on the great musicianship of its core members. The lessons that these musicians share with each other, and the power of their common experiences help them grow over time. Any band that continues performing over the course of several decades will encounter personnel changes, constantly bringing new voices into the ensemble. These younger artists get an education simply by playing next to the band’s remaining core musicians, and the older band members stay fresh by learning from the new perspectives. The student and the mentor both grow through their time together. It’s a powerful experience that invariably breeds a large number of strong musicians.

The true test of these musicians’ education comes from the music they create after leaving the main ensemble. The musicians do learn an immense amount from their time in the ensemble, but they are still working from the power of the collective. When they move into the position of leader, they need to apply their lessons. Some musicians will build upon their experiences, starting with the foundation of their knowledge and then building something new. Other artists will remain true to their former band and create a copycat version of the group. Still more musicians choose to ignore their past and pursue a completely different direction. Many possibilities exist, but the results are always a telling story that reflect upon the musician’s time in the band.

Latin Jazz contains many band “legacies,” but one of the longest running groups with a variety of musicians would be Irakere. With a history of more then thirty years behind them, the group has held a long list of Cuba’s finest musicians. The group’s core musicians - artists like Chucho Valdes and Carlos Del Puerto – became the backbone of the Havana jazz scene. The younger musicians that passed through Irakere built their reputations upon their many performances with the band, and they are now too seen as influencers. Many of these musicians left the group and followed their own careers as bandleaders, leaving a trail of albums for us to examine. It’s an interesting reflection looking at these albums as a group, so let’s look back upon an influential education with 10 albums from Irakere alumni.

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