HOT SALSA : Irakere

Sample from
Dile a Catalina
in
The Very best
of Irakere
(Atoll music)

CD selection :

The Very best
of Irakere
(compilation ;
Atoll music ; 1996)

Irakere
(CBS ; 1979)

Irakere
(Blue Note ; 1992)

Legendary
(Polygram ; 1994)

En vivo
(Iris ; 1996)

Order !

It is under the impulse of the diabolic pianist Chucho Valdés that the Cuban group Irakere takes-off in 1973. The orchestra then gathers a dolid handful of exceptional musicians, whose instrumental control will allow the most dared innovations and the most inspire improvisations.

Modern arrangements, in latin-jazz style, use electric instruments, but are articulated on more familiar Afro-Cuban bases. To that is added the astonishing play by the pianist, nourished with the bop of Thelonious Monk.

The saxophonist Paquito D' Rivera will leave Irakere and Cuba in 1980 during a tour in Spain, before settling in the USA. The torrid trumpet player Arturo Sandoval will also leave and will rejoin the USA in 1990.

During its successive formations, this historical group with variable geometry succeeded in maintaining a quality incomparable. Throughout its long career, it was always a seedbed of talents, forming young growths before they freed and fly of their own wings: the flutist José Luis Cortés, which will found NG La Banda ;... ; ... and the excellent percussionnist Anga Diaz, who chose to settle on the French banks, where he continues a faultless career.

Original formation :

Germán Velásco, sax ; Carlos Averoff, sax ; Arturo Sandoval, trumpet ; Jorge Varona, trumpet ; Carlos Emilio, electric guitar ; Carlos del Puerto, bass ; Enrique Pla, drums ; Jorge Alfonso, percussions ; Carlos Barbón, percussions ; Oscar Valdés, voice, percussions ; Jesús "Chucho" Valdés, piano, keyboards, direction.