Manuel Valera &
New Cuban Express
New Cuban Express
This Saturday!
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| CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS |
South Florida’s premier modern jazz organization is honored and privileged to present these revered artists in concert on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. This concert is produced by South Florida JAZZ. The performance will take place at the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center, 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr. Blvd on the Nova Southeastern University campus in Davie. Tickets are $40 ($15 for students with I.D.) and can be purchased from Ticketmaster via www.southfloridajazz.org or by calling 954.462.0222
Havana-born pianist Manuel Valera is in the line of Cuban virtuoso pianists at the vanguard of contemporary jazz, but he represents a newer generation of performer-composers. His technique is flawless and his sound is fresh as he plays with elegance shaping his high-energy and flowing musical motifs. His composing and playing are not stereotypically Afro-Cuban. He constantly explores pan-Latin rhythmic folkloric forms, post-bop and modern jazz styles infused with classical romanticism and even some funk to develop a cerebral, culturally resonant style that he refers to as “modern Latin fusion.”
The son of a Cuban alto saxophonist, Manuel studied elementary-level classical saxophone in Havana's Conservatory Manuel Saumell, where pianists Chucho Valdez and Gonzalo Rubalcaba began their educations. He immigrated to the United States in 1994, switched to the piano, ultimately earning a degree from The New School University for Jazz & Contemporary Music in Manhattan. Manuel rapidly became recognized in high-profile jazz circles with early professional experiences playing and touring with Paquito D' Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Steve Turre, Claudio Roditi, the Machito Orchestra, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, prior to focusing on his own band. The latest iteration of Manuel’s vision is the New Cuban Express band. The eponymously named recording was nominated for a Latin Jazz Grammy in 2013. On the heels of Expectivas comes In Motion, further reflecting on how this fusion band defies labels while creating an innovative experience not only of discerning jazz aficionados but with audiences of all types.
The personnel on the SFJ date is electrifying. Yosvany Terry, the most harmonically advanced, cerebral saxophonist to leave Cuba since Paquito D'Rivera, is on the front line and percussionist Mauricio Herrera continues to ignite the rhythm as only he can do. Bassist Armando Gola, known to the South Florida JAZZ via appearances with Eldar's trio and Ignacio Berroa's quartet, teams with Cuba's greatest drummer, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, guaranteeing a continuous burn in the rhythm section with a clave-based fierce punch and crisp snap that are unique to El Negro's grooves.
Manuel Valera is a flourishing young pianist-composer, whose talent and creative drive is making a unique mark in the bloodlines of the Afro-Cuban Jazz tradition. Those who share the bandstand with him are well aware that they are working with a master in the making.
ARTISTIC PERSONNEL
Manuel Valera – piano and keys
Yosvany Terry – alto and soprano saxophones
Armando Gola - electric bass
Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez- drums
Eddy Mauricio Herrera - percussion
Funding for this organization is provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council.
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