Photocopied article from the newspaper The Daily Dispatch about Chucho Valdes, a jazz musician

Thomas, Cornelius

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'Classified advertising 743-4343Grammy-winning jazzB ackB eatwith Cornelius ThomasH E PLUNGES straight into the groove with Anabis, tak­ing you to the heights of jazz improvisation and blending portuguese-African influences on Cuban rhythms at the same time, jjfhis is acoustic pianist Chucho Valdes on his Grammy-winning Latin jazz album. Live at the Pillage Vanguard.; In the hurly burly of Eminem’s misogyny and Elton John's ges­ture, it has been forgotten that jazz also featured at the prestigious Grammy Awards.This year Diane Reeves took the honours for Jazz Vocal Album with Live in Concert; Bela Fleck and the Flecktones walked off with Contemporary Jazz Album for Outbound; Pat Metheny won the Instrumental Solo with (Go) Get It; Joe Lovano took Large Jazz Ensemble for 52 Street Themes; and Branford Marsalis carried off the prize for Jazz Instrumental Album with Contemporary Jazz.- Branford Marsalis.But it was the Valdes Quartet's offering that captured what jazz was and is about — African tradi­tional polyrhythms and call and response, transformed by slaves (most of whom went to Brazil and .Cuba, and not to the United States), combining with American Deep South blues, migratory expe­rience and instrumental improvi­sation at the Village Vanguard in New York City.This club, its fame lately enhanced by Wynton Marsalis, hasCHUCHO VALDESfor the past 60 odd years schooled every jazz musician of note and produced umpteen “live” albums.But there was no reason to expect anything super special to come out of it when the relatively unknown Valdes walked in for a gig one night in April, 1999.After opening with Anabis, how­ever, word spread and proprietorLorraine Gordon kept them for several sets — all of which sold out. Crowds gathered on Seventh Street to catch suggestions of the magic that flowed from Roberto Guillot's conga and bata drums, Francisco Pampin’s acoustic bass, and Raul Roque’s trap drums.Anabis is followed by a “son’’ tune.“Son,"’ Valdes says on the album liner notes, “is an antecedent of today’s salsa music, and like rag­time the son blends African and European.” Son XXI uses those blends and takes jazz to a dimen­sion fit for the 21st century.Six equally excellent tunes follow, with the traditional My Funny Valentine holding the centre.Throughout, percussion gone postmodern fills out the sound, giv­ing the album a zippy edge.Live at the Village Vanguard con­cludes with Lorraine’s Habanera in which Valdes improvises by coilag­ing eclectic structures from the three continents’ music he loves.Forget Steely Dan and Eminem a while; buy this Valdes, and allow yourself to be blown by the best sounds from the cross-streams of Cuba and Africa meeting at America’s jazz mecca.•  One of the premier jazz bassists in South Africa, Donne Dowlman, who is well known in Gauteng for her lyrical improvisations, and conceptual drummer Mark Rausch will join Alan Webster and Matthew Boon at Smokey Swallows this Sunday.

Grammy winning jazz

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Grammy winning jazz

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