Chucho Valdès Royal Quartet - Live at La Halle aux Grains, Toulouse (2025) | Qwest TV

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ABOUT THIS VIDEO:
Here we have the grand veteran Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés representing his Latin Jazz side rather than the other equally vital outlet as a salsa dance groover with his Irakere ensemble. Valdés formed that group way back in 1973, and he’s still actively touring the globe, recently celebrating the legacy of Irakere with a series of dedicated shows.

The Royal Quartet features José Armando Gola (acoustic/electric basses), Roberto Jr. Vizcaino (congas, bongos, timbales, etc.) and longtime collaborator Horacio ‘El Negro’ Hernández (drums). Both of the percussion spreads are markedly panoramic, facilitating a heavy emphasis on beat-breakdowns, alternating with thematic explorations in the jazz vein. Valdés and Gola solo at length, but when the sticksmen take over, the orientation shifts into heavy Cuban skin-scatter pile-ups. Vizcaino has five congas to play with, sometimes with both hands, or a single mallet, then occasionally with a pair of sticks.

Sitting at the Steinway, Valdés mixes his original tunes (“Congadanza”, “Punto Cubano”, “Lorena’s Tango”) with old chestnuts by Chick Corea and George Gershwin, the latter’s “But Not For Me” presented as a completely solo piano feature, sparse before its rivulets flow, and eventually dancing, as Valdés invites the band in after seven minutes. The leader ranges from a placid minimalism towards hectic theme-runs, with percussively attacked keys topped by repetitive patterns. The Corea number is “Armando’s Rhumba”, a tighter composition, with many twists and turns.

The closing piece is “Anabis”, marking a switch to abstract foreboding, going into a slow groove, and ending up with a sprightly theme before an ultimate return to impressionism. The encore is “Tatomania”, highlighting an extended percussion solo: a surprising close, but gripping nonetheless.

This gig’s lighting work is notably striking, luminous with bold, cross-hatched blood reds and cobalt blues…
Martin Longley

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