CHAPEL HILL � It could not have ended any other way: fans surrounding the stage, dancing and clapping as seasoned Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Vald�s and his quintet played the last song of the night, putting an end to an extraordinary soulful performance Tuesday at Memorial Hall on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
For Vald�s, the concert was another opportunity to take the spotlight doing what he loves. For the audience, it presented a unique opportunity to see one of the greatest jazz pianists in the world perform at the top of his game.
Never mind the fact he recently turned 71. The dexterity and sharpness with which he made his piano sing made it clear that age has not slowed him down, not even after five decades of performing in halls around the world.
If anything, Vald�s demonstrated once again that he learned from the best. As a child, he took piano lessons from his father, Bebo Vald�s, one of the most celebrated pioneering Cuban pianists and bandleaders of all time.
After playing successfully with several bands, Chucho Vald�s founded his own band in the early 1970s, Irakere, which revolutionized Latin music by fusing jazz, rock, classical and tradition Cuban styles. Since then, he has won five Grammy awards and three Latin Grammy awards, the latest for his 2010 album �Chucho�s Steps,� which he recorded with his latest band, The Afro-Cuban Messengers.
Throughout Tuesday�s concert, Vald�s performed songs from that album, though improvisations and impromptu solos by the talented quintet members that accompanied him made the audience feel as if they had just walked into a jazz jamming session.
At times, the seductive rhythms were unmistakably Cuban, with the congas, bata and bass taking center stage. At others, the frantic sounds of the drums evoked the discordance that characterizes free jazz.
The controlled chaos was only tamed by Vald�s, who allowed his accompanists to express themselves but knew when to step in to reel in the performance with slow and delicate piano tunes that mesmerized the audience again and again and reminded them why he is considered one of the world�s ambassadors of Latin music.
Keren Rivas is a former Times-News reporter who currently works at Elon University.