On April 25, 1973, the Santiago de Cuba stadium saw a historic event when Irakere (an eight-member band whose name means "forest" in Yoruba) debuted. Attendees had never experienced anything quite ...

The thing about the Martin Theatre is there’s not quite enough room to dance. That didn’t stop audiences from trying anyway on Wednesday, when Irakere, the storied Cuban band, visited Ravinia for its ...

Hace más de 40 años que la banda de latin jazz Irakere se fundó en La Habana, un grupo de “grandes estrellas”, liderado por el pianista Chucho Valdés, que marcó, en palabras del maestro, “el cambio ...

The project, which Valdés founded in 1973, brought the sacred percussion and incantations of Afro-Cuban religious music to jazz. By Judy Cantor-Navas On Oct. 20, Chucho Valdés opens his Irakere 40 ...

Kupferberg Center for the Arts will present Chucho Valdés: Irakere 50, a powerful tribute to the legendary Cuban ensemble that transformed Afro-Cuban jazz. Taking place on Thursday, May 8 at 8 PM at ...

"They were smoking." That was KPFA's Art Sato, host of "In Your Ear"—a weekly Saturday afternoon Latin Jazz, jazz and flamenco music program on KPFA in Berkeley, California—evaluating legendary Cuban ...

World Music Institute presents on its new Masters of Cuban Music series one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz: the Cuban pianist, composer and arranger Chucho Valdés. The ...

Performances of instrumental music often embody a tension between virtuoso display and the casting of narrative spells: look-no-hands acrobatics and the dreamlike weave of ancient storytelling. The ...

“Estela Va A Estallar”, a hard-grooving take on “Stella By Starlight”, lifted by driving electric bass, boisterous montuno, furious conga and kit playing, and shout choruses from the horns, was ...

Chucho Valdés: Irakere 40 will perform a concert at Hope College on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. A five-time Grammy and three-time Latin Grammy-winning pianist, composer ...

Today’s exclusive is the first of two songs I’m posting this week taken from “Si, Para Usted,” a new compilation of Cuban music from the ’70s and early ’80s. Led by pianist Chucho Valdes, Irakere has ...