About this Performance

The great Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Valdés presents La Creación (The Creation), his new work for big band, Afro-Cuban percussion, and vocals. La Creación is a suite in four movements that explores the story of creation according to the Regla de Ocha, the Afro-Cuban religion known as Santería. It is also an extraordinary summation of an extraordinary artist who is celebrating his 80th birthday in October. The piece uses a sonic palette that includes elements of Santería ritual music, African music, the blues, and what Valdés describes as “an atmosphere in the style of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew.”

Nuyorican salsa legend Willie Colón burst onto the scene in the 1970s, combining the rhythms of traditional music from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and across Africa, and has since explored the complex relationships—musical and otherwise—between Puerto Rico and the US. He was named one of the 30 most influential Latin artists of all time by Billboard magazine, has won Grammys and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Grammys, and is the best-selling salsa artist of all time.

Cimafunk brings together Afro-Cuban sounds and rhythms with global funk, hip-hop, and soul making fans out of funk legend George Clinton and The New York Times, who said he’s on a “quest to create one nation under a groove.”

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