Chucho Valdes & Irakere 50, Eliades Ochoa & El Niño y La Verdad Cuban Royalty & one of the island’s brightest stars conquer SF at SFJAZZ, Freight & Salvage and Salsa Rueda Fest

The San Francisco Bay Area was treated to an extraordinary month of Cuban music. Visiting the Bay Area was the Cuban maestro Chucho Valdes and the latest edition of his celebrated band Irakere who are celebrating their 50th anniversary at the SF JAZZ Center. Irakere 50 is made up of heavyweights such as Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez on drums, Roberto Viscaino Jr. on congas, bata, timbales and percussion, bassist Jose Gola, vocalist Ramon Martinez and the mighty four piece horn section of Luis Beltran-alto sax, Carlos Fernandez-tenor sax, trumpeters Eddy Camejo and Osvaldo Sibore.

From the opening notes of the scintillating “Juana 1600” to the encore of the classic “Bacalao Con Pan”, Irakere 50 were spellbinding with their instrumental brilliance, improvisation and explosive music. Chucho Valdes was in his element delivering beautifully crafted solos while directing this tight, imaginative band performing their complex fusion of Jazz, Salsa, Funk, Afro-Cuban folklore, Classical and Timba. Martinez was inciting the crowd to get up and dance with his infectious dancing, vocal antics and engaging personality. I went to both the opening and closing night shows of their four night run. On Thursday night, the ensemble were on fire and the Sunday night set had a different repertoire which feature a Jazz suite was was dynamic, memorable and fresh.

Down the block, the annual Salsa Rueda Festival produced by Nick Van Eyck and Serena Wong of the Salsa Vale Todo dance troupe, was happening at the Holiday Inn/Golden Gateway featured one of Cuba’s popular bands El Niño Y La Verdad led by their charismatic vocalist, Emilio Frias “El Niño”. Frias showed different sides of his charisma and talent by contributing lead vocals to an all-star rumba featuring Michel Herrera of Yoruba Andabo, Adonis from Osain Del Monte, Roberto Borell, Javier Navarrette and others on Friday. On Saturday, Frias fronted his band “El Niño Y La Verdad” who played a killer set of timba, son and their hits including “Cosa Mala” which had the crowd dancing on their feet. Several female dancers jumped on stage and joined the band on stage heating up the scene. Renowned Festival DJ Walt Digz kept the venue hot and the crowd on the dance floor during the weekend that celebrated Cuban dance and culture.

Across the bay, legendary Buena Vista Social Club alum Eliades Ochoa performed 2 sold out nights at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley at the end of February. Ochoa is a seasoned troubadour whose powerful voice and phenomenal guitar playing propelled his crack band to deliver a great evening of Cuban Son. His live versions of his classic BVSC hits “Chan Chan”, “El Carretero” and “El Cuarto De Tula” had the dance floor even more packed with delighted Freight dancers. Eliades was obviously having a great time joking with the audience and telling stories about his life and songs that had the crowd captivated. I had a great time to see this master at “work”. Kudos to John Santos and his curated “Raices” series that presented Ochoa at the Freight.