Swing Is In The Air
Sunday September 24th, 2017 with Bernard Stepien
Two Cuban Pianists: Chucho Valdez & Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Cuban pianist Chucho Valdez and Gonzalo Rubalcaba present two radically different concepts of piano playing. Valdez is deeply rooted into traditional Cuban music while Rubalcaba is rooted in Jazz, from Thelonious Monk, Erroll Garner Art Tatum and Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett. However, Rubalcaba is not an imitator but rather an instant melting pot. His music is all in nuances and mostly slow moving with some controlled eruptions of notes. His association with bassist Charlie Haden in the ‘80s that lasted about two decades seem to have been the most perfect match in Jazz history. Valdez approach is in turning a tune into a hurricane, with quiet moments of the eye and furious runs of notes that will eventually land somewhere in the right portion of the original tune that he regurgitates with the subtlety of a filigree.