Chucho Valdés

A 10-time GRAMMY® Award winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Arturo Sandoval has led a storied life and career. With dazzling technique and a multi-octave range, he is internationally revered as a jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player and renowned as a classical artist, pianist, and composer. He has been seen by millions at the OSCARS®, the GRAMMY Awards®, and the Billboard Music Awards, and has collaborated with a staggering list of greats.

Along with these two giants, Irakere 50 is a showcase for a blazing new generation of hand-picked Cuban talent. Chucho says, “When I decided to do a tribute to that marvelous band, I also decided I didn’t want to do it with the charter members but with players from the generations of musicians that grew up and learned from Irakere. I thought it would be more meaningful. It’s a tribute from one generation to another.”