Chucho Valdés, the Cuban pianist, composer and arranger, has won seven Grammys and six Latin Grammys, in addition to receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy. He was recently awarded a Grammy for Mirror Mirror, an album recorded with fellow pianists Eliane Elías and the late Chick Corea, and a Latin Grammy for the album I Missed You Too, which reunited him with the master saxophonist and clarinettist Paquito D'Rivera, an old friend of his and former member of Irakere.
Chucho Valdés formed Irakere in 1973, selecting several of the leading soloists of the legendary Cuban Modern Music Orchestra to interpret his musical vision. This big band, created in 1967, united some of the country's best musicians and interpreted jazz and pop music. In 1973, while still a band within the orchestra, Irakere recorded Bacalao con pan, a song that became a massive hit and earned the group recognition. Bacalao con pan is a dance number with an irresistible rhythm and clever arrangement. It gives the public a glimpse of the depth and ambitions evident in the group's composition and interpretation. It was Irakere's first hit, paving the way for the later success of the timba, a danceable style that remains popular in Cuba.
In 1975, Irakere became independent and remained active until 2005. However, the group's discovery began in 1977 (nearly two decades before Buena Vista Social Club), with the first official visit of American citizens to Cuba since the Cuban Missile Crisis. They arrived on a jazz cruise ship with passengers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Stan, Stan Getz and a young Ry Cooder. Upon hearing Irakere in Havana, the visiting musicians were enthralled by the group's compositions and the virtuosity of its members. News of Irakere reached CBS Records President Bruce Lundvall, who visited Cuba several months later to hear the group in person. He was so impressed that he immediately offered the musicians a recording contract and arranged to take them to the Newport Jazz Festival in New York.
On 28 June 1978, in an unannounced appearance at Carnegie Hall, Chucho Valdés and Irakere surprised the audience as the closing act, subsequently gaining worldwide recognition. A few months later, an eponymous album was released with selected material from the Carnegie Hall concert and a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, which won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.