Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet

Concert Details

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

Valdés’s Royal Quartet brings together a masterful lineup of Cuban-born instrumentalists, including bassist José Armando Gola, who’s known for his lengthy collaboration with Gonzalo Rubalcaba; ambidextrous marvel Horacio “El Negro” Hernández on drums; and percussionist Roberto Jr. Vizcaino, the son of longtime Valdés associate Roberto Vizcaino.

The band’s Grammy-nominated debut, Cuba and Beyond, is packed with a collection of the Valdés’s fiery compositions as well as inventive takes on the works of Chick Corea and Pedro Junco.