Last night, I was invited to the SF Jazz Festival where my radio station is sponsoring the closing night of a four
night run for Juan De Marcos and The Afro Cuban All Stars. However, I didn’t attend the second night of their run, I was invited instead to see Cuban born child prodigy and piano wunderkind Aldo Lopez-Gavilan in the intimate Joe Henderson Lab space. Lopez-Gavilan who looked like he was 22, sported long curly hair, a goatee and a boyish smile. He had an easy way of connecting with the audience with a sense of humor as he had a story for every song he introduced. He dazzled the sold out crowd with brilliant technique combined with his inventive arrangements and original ideas that revealed a fluid fusion of jazz, afro-cuban and classical music. I was mesmerized listening to every tune of his magical 85 minute set. I sensed the importance of this date as if I had discovered a young Chucho Valdes or Gonzalo Rubalcaba in a small club. I had just witnessed the future and his name is Aldo Lopez-Gavilan.Live Appearances
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