Seventy one year old Chucho Valdes enjoys the status of a saint in his native Cuba, for the international recognition he has brought to Cuban music in a career spanning more than 50 years, five Grammy awards and 46 albums.
Last Saturday night Valdes packed Hamer Hall to deliver a program of dazzling pianism from the celebratory side of contemporary jazz, with a stunning quartet of collaborators in the Afro-Cuban Messengers: on acoustic bass, drums, congas and various percussion including the beautifully hour-glass shaped bata drums.
Chucho Valdes has a majestic and commanding presence at the piano. Perhaps echoing his physically imposing frame, the strength of the Valdes mojo is communicated in every note and genre from classic jazz through Cuban romanticism, and ‘world’ grooves. Even at his most tender, Valdes sounds relentlessly robust – the man cannot but be powerful, and moments of relative quiet and introspection are few. Cascades of virtuosic pianism tumble easily from his gargantuan hands and he seems to possess endless capacity for melodic invention and re-invention, as well as timbral and tempo variety.
Valdes’ boundless energy was matched by that of his collaborators – the Messengers powering through the repertoire with joyous gusto. Each took a turn in the spotlight, delivering spectacular extended solos, and obviously enjoying the workout – constantly flashing appreciative grins at one another. Their exuberance was infectious.
In one of the opening numbers, Dreiser Durruthy Bombale pegged the 3:2 clave beat unperturbed while Valdes and drummer Rodney Yllarza Barreto deconstructed the bar line for an extended period of pointillistic exploration. On a pin the five-piece ensemble raced through rhythmically complex unison passages before coming to rest with the lone piano in romantic, rhapsodic mode.
So the repertoire went throughout the evening – alternating between highly arranged through-composed suites and extended one-chord groove sections that allowed for maximal improvisational interplay. These one-chord-wonders were a frequent backdrop – with the bass holding a static pedal tone Valdes had full rein to push the boundaries melodically and harmonically, exploring chromaticism and dissonant chordal clusters. Exceptions were the classic slow blues, which was more stylistically traditional; the jazz standard ‘But Not For Me’; and an unidentified Cuban romantic song with a poignant set of chord changes over which bassist Angel Gaston Joya Perellada improvised a virtuosic melody. Unfortunately from my vantage point in the middle of the stalls, the bass sound was very boomy, rendering most specific tones indistinct.
An ensemble highlight was an African influenced re-working of the Dave Brubeck classic ‘Take Five’, featuring the Messengers in a communal vocal call and response section before Bata drum master Dreiser Durruthy Bombale whipped himself into a cool frenzy, alternating vocal calls with astounding hand drumming prowess.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Chucho Valdes & the Afro-Cuban Messengers
Chucho Valdes; piano
Yaroldy Abreu Robles; percussion
Dreiser Durruthy Bombale; bata drum and vocals
Rodney Yllarza Barreto; drums
Angel Gaston Joya Perellada; bass.
Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
8 June
