Tending the Family Fire

by Josef Woodard

AZZ CUBANA IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD: In the past several years, Santa Barbara has
had fair exposure to the Cuban-jazz pulse, and “pulse” is the right
word. Jazz has benefited, directly and otherwise, from rolling,
sensuous Cuban rhythmic influences for decades, and Cuban musicians
have likewise found ways to feed the North American influence back
into their own recipes. Thus we get the current crop of Cuban-born
jazz musicians, like the great Gonzalo Rubalcaba — one of our
greatest living pianists — and young drummer Dafnis Prieto, now
living in New York and shaking things up.

We heard both artists live in town last year, in thrilling shows
at Campbell Hall and SOhO, respectively. And then there’s the
Valdés family trust. On Sunday night, the pianist Chuchito Valdés
plays at SOhO, bringing his own fiery approach to the ivories. He
also brings along a dedication to traditional Cuban-jazz music
values as partly defined by his lineage; Chuchito is the son of
Chucho and grandson of Bebo, both noted pianists who have played at
Campbell Hall in the last four years.