Search Results for: rhythm

Influence of Latin Music in Europe and Vice Versa

European union

When we refer to any Latin element that has been influential at the European continent or vice versa, it is almost inevitable that we think back to the Discovery of the Americas on the part of Christopher Columbus.

It was about this time when various instruments present in cumbia and salsa started to be used. No wonder we attach so much importance to this event, as this is how Spanish and the Portuguese arrived in the so-called New World. It is no coincidence that these languages are the protagonists of these rhythms at this time.

While it is true that Europe gave its languages to Latin music, we cannot fail to mention that the African slave trade played a major role in this context. Its beats and drums closely tied to religious ceremonies were inspirational for salsa, bachata and samba and African-American music, in which the famous Jazz may be included.

Neither can we leave out the fact that many pre-Colombian civilizations created many types of percussion music instruments, which are very present in Andean music and its very traditional flute-like sounds.

What has led Latin American music to become so popular in recent times?

There is no denying that Latin music has achieved a tremendous global reach in recent years, but things were not always like this. In the past, it was ballads of love with heartbreaking lyrics that dominated this market and its primary target audience was female.

With the passing of years, this reality radically changed. We can see it in the emergence of an encouraging number of commercial songs and very simple to dance like La Macarena by Los Del Rio, Livin La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin, A Dios Le Pido by Juanes, among others. These pieces of theme music were the ones that broke the barrier of traditional radio in due course.

Later, hip hop and R&B gave origin to other urban rhythms that took hold of everyone’s attention

Latin music for some time now

That mode of nightclubs of Latin origin that have been inaugurated the length and breadth of the old continent is nothing new. What is new though is the type of attendees received in these places in recent years. There’s a very large audience of all ages who show real interest in rhythms whose language they don’t even know, but they do not seem to care at all. In fact, this peculiarity seems to give an extra touch of excitement to the point. They see Latin music as an array of sounds and rhythms that may not understand, but that simply cannot stop dancing them.

When making a comparison of the monotonous pop style with this recent wave of Latino artists that have been conquering hearts throughout the world, it is evident that things are different now and did not seem to go back to the way they were. What is true is that traditional styles have been overthrown surprisingly.

It is not a secret that singers such as Shakira or Ricky Martin became immensely popular in the late nineties and the early 200All Posts0s, but now things go much further. We are saying that there is a very important number of musicians in these genres that have drawn the attention of all audiences of all ages and countries.

Further, there is a lot of Americans who have appropriated these styles and the Spanish language to give a lot of freshness to their musical projects. A telling example is the Canadian Justin Bieber who has worked with Luis Fonsi and other artists from Latin America, giving as a result a fan base that became interested in these genres and the Spanish language.

It looks like musical lyrics no longer need to be in English to reach all corners of the globe and make everyone dance. In fact, many people look for this type of music to enjoy it, even if they understand little to nothing about it.

Orchestra Latin music playing in the roads

What can we deduce from all this?

After having analysed all these data, we can say that Latin music is a very rich and intense mix of a cluster of cultures that were linked up between them until we find the heterogeneity that we see today. Undeniably, this whole process of miscegenation between so many rhythms would not have been possible under the influence of pre-Columbian, African and European culture. However, the same can be said in the opposite case.

Yes, this also occurs in the contrary case. Europeans’s musical tastes are no longer those of a few decades ago. Nowadays, there are many adults and young people who cannot stop dancing when they listen to certain salsa or merengue songs that have gone across all possible borders.

In short, we are talking about a continuous feedback loop between both cultures that keeps going until now. No musical rhythm is completely pure and Latin rhythms are the perfect example.

Image source 1: http://nuevacaravana.blogspot.com/2010/08/bongo.html

Image source 2: https://presencia.unah.edu.hn/noticias/los-origenes-de-la-musica-y-la-identidad-en-america-latina-4-de-4/

Image source 3: https://www.correo.ca/2015/07/willie-colon-la-clave-es-la-experimentacion/

Image source 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH_3h43nGf4

Itamar Doari

Europe/ Israel / Galilee

Itamar Doari, Born and raised in Galilee, grew up surrounded by a variety of musical traditions: Arabic, Sephardic, Turkish, Persian, Bedouin

Itamar Doari is an international percussion artist who has spent most of his adult life traveling around the world giving concerts, recording albums, appearing at music conferences and most importantly studying the ancient art of rhythm and drumming. He began his musical journey at the young age of six, when he played his first drum in the Israeli desert oasis of Wadi Farran.

Itamar, born and raised in Galilee, grew up surrounded by a variety of musical traditions: Arabic, Sephardic, Turkish, Persian, Bedouin and many others which had a huge influence on his musical persona. During his early years of playing, he had the privilege of learning from some of the most prestigious teachers in percussion and hand drum technique in the world, among them; Zohar Fresco, Glen Vallez, Sallem Darwish and Ahmed Taher. Doari plays a wide range of instruments, including the Darbuka, Dohola and a variety of frame drums such as Bandir, Tar, Riq, Udu, and Cajon alongside Cymbals, bells, shakers and many others.

Itamar Doari’s wide ranging techniques have led him to work with an eclectic mix of some of the world’s finest musicians. Including prominent Jazz musician Avishai Cohen, with whom Doari has performed and recorded three albums, both as a musician and as a musical producer.

He was at the forefront of the Idan Raichal Project, which gained international success due to the unique Ethiopian musical exploration.

He has a continuing musical association with mandolinist and Grammy nominee Avi Avital, with whom Doari has collaborated in several projects including the “Between Worlds” Trio and with orchestras around the world. The great Ladino singer Yasmin Levy, Israeli Rock legend Berry Sakharof, oud player Samir Mekhul,Esther Ofarim, Yoni Rechter, Eviatar Banai, Amal Murcus, Ahuva Ozeri, Shotei Hanevuah, Nitin Sawhney, Omer Faruk, Tekbilek and Radiohead guitarist and composer Johnny Greenwood.

In 2010, Itamar became one of the founding members of the band Yemen Blues along with singer & composer Ravid Kahalani, the band explores music from a variety of different cultures from Yemen to West Africa inflected with contemporary grooves of funk, Arabic Music and the deep soul of old chants. A project particularly close to Itamar’s heart is one he created entitled WadiAtma.

In 2015, he put together a band of virtuoso musicians from the Flamenco and Middle Eastern traditions which created a musical melting pot of ancient art forms.

The name of the project unites souls (Atma in Sanskrit) with the wadi (originally an Arabic word that found its way to Spain via Andalusia) in a way that describes, in the best possible way, the meeting on stage: The Valley of the Souls. His collaborations have seen him perform on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and Festivals.

Itamar has recorded with several notable record labels, such as; Universal, EMI, Deutsche Grammophone, Sony, Helicon, Blue Note, Decca

The beautiful story of dancer, actor and singer Pancho Martinez Pey

Dance has been always important for Pancho

Pancho Martinez Pey is an Argentine dance teacher, choreographer, actor, singer and dancer who has had a large participation in various shows and theatre plays in which he has demonstrated his skills in those disciplines where he has become an expert in recent years, among which we can mention ”Casa Blanca”, ”Café Tortoni”, ”Michelangelo”, ”Esquina Carlos Gardel”, ”Sabor a Tango” and many more.

His father was a musician and second guitar player for Oscar Alemán in the 1970s, so he was always involved in the world of dance since he was eight years old and started learning to dance in a more professional way at the age of 12. However, the first time he had contact with tango was at 16, when he began to take his first steps in this particular genre. Three years later, he moved to Spain for a while to work as a drummer and singer in a musical group, with which he would tour the entire European country to offer his talent to the local public.

When they were not playing, they danced tango and Argentine folklore, which inspired him enough to devote himself entirely to tango in his country of origin, something that happened when a very young Pancho was just 22 years old. Once he was in his homeland, he worked as a ticket-taker at a train station for a few years while taking dancing lessons in the evenings, which trained and prepared him for his big break.

His big moment came when he was offered to participate in the piece ”Miguelangelo” together with Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau, who formed one of the most emblematic couples of Argentine tango. He did not think twice about it and quit his job at the train station to go to dance professionally just as he does to the date.

In view of the fact that he was always used to listening to all kinds of music from a very young age, he had no trouble adapting to all the rhythms that he found in the way, such as folklore, tango, forró, swing, Argentine rock, among others.

He also enjoys singing very much and ensures he can sing all kinds of genres ”from K-Pop to tango”.

Pancho Martínez Pey dancing tango with María Nieves. Photo courtesy of Yumba Rojas

Combining dancing and singing with acting

When asked how he mixes dancing and singing with acting and all that histrionic part that makes his performances so particular, he says that his taste for this branch of the arts was also born in his childhood, since he always watched Argentine films in which dancing was very present and it goes without saying that they were always his favorites. Then, little by little, destiny led him to combine all these elements until he starred in his first important musical called ”Tanguera”. In this piece, participants did not talk or act too much, but they had to focus on putting on a good show at the level of dancing.

Another important musical in his career was ”Tita: Una Vida en Tiempo de Tango” with Nacha Guevara, which focused on the life and career of tango dancer and actress Tita Merello. This piece did require vocal talents between dialogues, so Pancho was finally able to show what he was made of as a singer.

All these facets have their degree of complexity, but the Argentinean performer thinks that the hardest part of his work is trying to combine all these areas, something a friend and colleague of his acted as a coach and helped him to train in the linking between singing, dancing and acting. He pointed out that this is a very strong training in which you have to control certain elements such as breathing, the air when dancing, concentration, among other details.

Role of man and woman in tango

According to Pancho, given that it is a dance of two, it is very important that both understand each other’s role in the dance. ”The leader leads and the other follows. In most cases, the leader is the man of the couple, who at the same time is the one who provides support and leads at the same time, while the follower has to follow the leader, but must also be an active member of the situation. Let’s remember that we are two people dancing and not one, so we are both active subjects in the dance. The woman expresses all her own beauty and sensuality, while the gentleman has that strength and guidance that, at the same time, seduces and makes his partner feel safe” said the artist.

Pancho with his father Oscar Cacho Martinez, and his uncle Raúl Martinez

How history and social changes have affected tango

Martínez explains that the World Tango championship gave a huge boost to this musical genre. It was always very popular in Argentina, but it did not have the importance it now has in most of the world. Tango came from a mixture of cultures in Buenos Aires, where the first lyrics of its social protest songs began to emerge. Tango has that popular and rebellious element coming from the people” explains the performer.

The golden age of tango was in the 1940s, when musicians and poets at the highest level began to emerge until foreign musical groups such as The Beatles or Elvis Presley appeared, who won over audiences of the time, which caused a temporary decline of tango. That is how matters stood until the early 1990s when the film Tango Argentino was released, which contributed significantly to the worldwide explosion of tango in those years and to improvement of techniques used for that dance”, he continued.

Finally, the dancer expressed his joy for the moment that tango is living nowadays, since he had never seen so many people interested in learning to dance it, both as entertainment and profession. He thinks that this current popularity is due to the need of people to connect with others after the pandemic and the multiple benefits that it brings at a mental level.

Interesting conversation with vocal coach and YouTuber Ceci Dover

Who is Ceci Dover and what she has done

Ceci Dover is a professional vocal coach and singer of Argentinean origin residing in Spain, where she has been dedicated to voice, music and technological advances that have emerged out in this world over the past few years. All this accumulated experience has made her worthy of sharing the stage with several of the most important Spanish-speaking artists such as Coro Kennedy and Alejandro Lerner.

In her talent and knowledge, we can notice that she has received a very solid training in the issues she always touches and two very important teaching centers in her academic life were the Manuel de Falla Conservatory and the singing academy Valeria Lynch, both of which contributed greatly to make Ceci the professional voice teacher she is today. Another important detail to highlight from her route is the Still Voice Training academy in the United States in 2020, which would complete her studies as a coach and professional singer.

Currently, Ceci is dedicated to perform vocal diagnosis for those who request it and she works as a content creator through YouTube, a platform on which she offers her analysis to well-known voices in the entertainment world so that the public can know a professional opinion on their quality or the absence of it.

In view of Ceci’s great career in the world of music, we wanted to talk to her and learn a little more about her career and experience from her own mouth.

How did your interest in music and vocal technique begin?

After thanking us for the space we gave her, Ceci went on to explain that it all started when she was in high school, which she combined with singing studies at a particular level since she turned 13 years old. Once she finished school, she enrolled in a conservatory and began studying lyrical singing full time for about 12 year until she chose to specialize in folk singing in order to achieve a change of range.

Throughout this process, she discovered that she enjoyed singing and teaching, although she would be dedicated exclusively to the latter.

Major references and inspirations

Her most significant influences are Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carrey, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Freddy Marcury, Michael Jackson, among others. Ceci said to belong to old school because of her tastes, but it took a few years for her to start paying more attention to music in Spanish. It was in 2020 that she started paying attention to Latin voices such as Juan Gabriel, who has gone on to become one of her favorite artists worldwide. Although she has discovered a lot of talent in music in Spanish, she has been really fascinated by Mexican culture, which has given birth to several of the songs that did not have faces during her childhood.

Italian singer Laura Pausini and Ceci Dover

One of the things that has caught her attention the most about rancheras and boleros is that they allow artists to show all their talent and vocal ability. In addition, he says that these genres come from times when singers ”sang for real, excellence was demanded of them and had to be good in order to succeed”.

The industry dies not require artists to offer quality because it only focuses on creating characters and products carefully designed to make shows,” said the professional singer on this subject.

Importance of lyrics in culture

Ceci has been highly critical of everything related to the kind of lyrics that have been used in modern genres such as reggaeton and considers that so much vulgarity is not necessary to express what is wanted. In fact, he considers that these lyrical resources are an involution and a total reversal in music. Ensures that trap and reggaeton do not bother her, but she believes that explicitness, offenses and vexations used by many of its exponents do not send any positive message to the youth.

For the artist, this issue becomes even more serious and delicate when talking about young children as well, who are the primary audience of this musical content. She comments that her own son learns these lyrics at school and comes home singing them, something that makes her very angry and leads her to do everything possible to reverse the negative effects that this may have on his upbringing.

Peruvian composer and singer Eva Ayllón with Ceci Dover

It is possible to talk about heartbreak without being vulgar and degrading. I understand that this is what many young people like nowadays, but I think it is not a generational thing, but a matter of education. I have very young students who also disagree with that way of expressing music”, she added.

In that sense, he also points out that parents should instill other musical references and listen to other music so that their children get to know other voices and styles. Few people know Freddy Mercury or Michael Jackson, but everyone knows Bizarrap, Rosalia and Quevedo. That has to change” said the performer.

Vocal diagnosis and training

When Ceci was asked if a person without natural vocal talent could develop it, her answer was yes, although with several points to consider. A person without natural singing talent can develop his full potential and educate his voice. I know singers who don’t have good voice, but they strive to make good songs, write good lyrics and convey the listening audience special things” Ceci replied.

”I encourage everyone to educate their voice, even if they weren’t born with the natural talent that can make that process a little easier. I think we all can work on our voice and offer quality singing, but within our means. You can’t promise people that they are going to sing like Celine Dion in a year if they don’t have the conditions to do that. There are borders we simply cannot cross, but we can look for the best version of ourselves” she added.

Scenography and details unrelated to voice

Just as voice is a very important part of the analysis, there are other aspects that can distract Ceci from her analysis, such as lyrics, costumes and choreography. In that sense, she mentions the recent case of Shakira, whose story of heartbreak attracts much more attention than the technical details involved.

He also mentioned the case of K-Pop groups, whose choreographies, pirouettes and costumes stand out much more than their members’ voices. ”Before, the technical aspects related to voice were what stood out on stage, but now the visual part of the show is much more important than before,” said the artist. ”I was very much against backing tracks, but I have realized that K-Pop groups cannot achieve a perfect voice with such demanding dances and aerobics,” she concluded on this issue.

Salsa exponents

Although Ceci has focused on analyzing rancheras, boleros, pop and reggaeton, she thinks it is time to dedicate some of her material to analyze other more tropical genres such as salsa or merengue. In this part of the conversation, she expressed her admiration for stars such as Juan Luis Guerra, Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz and many more. There have been many followers who have asked her to react to voices of this genre, so she is considering making an exclusive special for tropical rhythms such as these and thereby appeasing the part of her audience that enjoys these styles.

Bebo Valdés is considered one of the central figures of the golden age of Cuban music

On March 22, 2013 in Stockholm, Sweden, Dionisio Ramón Emilio Valdés Amaro, better known as Bebo Valdés, died.

He was an excellent musician of Cuban music and Afro-Cuban jazz, considered one of the central figures of the golden age of Cuban music.

In addition to being a pianist, his best known facet, he has been a composer, arranger and orchestra conductor.

He was born in Quivicán, Cuba, on October 9, 1918. He was the father of the Afro-Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdés (b. 1941). From 1931 to 1935 he studied piano in his hometown with Moraima González; in 1936 he moved with his family to Havana, where he studied music theory, harmony and composition with Oscar Bofartigue.

In 1938 he made his professional debut with Happy D’Ulacia’s orchestra. He played in Havana, since the 1940s, in the orchestras Ulacia, García Curbelo, Julio Cueva and Orquesta Tropicana, and recorded albums with groups dedicated to performing Afro-Cuban jazz.2

Known among his family and friends by the affectionate nickname of Caballón because of his considerable stature, he composed mambos, such as La rareza del siglo, which covers the genre recently introduced by Pérez Prado and which would change the course of Cuban music. From 1948 until 1957, he worked at the Tropicana cabaret as pianist and arranger for Rita Montaner.

The Sabor de Cuba orchestra, of Bebo Valdés, and that of Armando Romeu, made the show of this night club, in which Valdés stopped performing in 1957, when he was hired by Ernesto Roca, of the Peer International Music Publishers, to make arrangements for Xiomara Alfaro and Pío Leyva; at the same time, he joined Guillermo Álvarez Guedez, of the Panart and Rolando Laserie in Radio Progreso. With his orchestra Sabor de Cuba, he accompanied singers Reinaldo Henríquez, Orlando Guerra (Cascarita), Pío Leyva and Ada Rex; Beny Moré also sang with this group, and Chucho Valdés made his debut.

About the descarga or jam session, there are multiple versions, this is the one by Bebo Valdés which, due to the concreteness of data, dates and record labels that made the recordings, is the most objective: “One night in October 1952, I was resting in a cabaret in Havana with members of the Tropicana orchestra.

Bebo Valdés Fue un excelente músico de música cubana y jazz afrocubano, considerado como una de las figuras centrales de la época dorada de la música

It is important to know that since 1948, Cuban, Mexican or even American musicians used to meet on Sunday afternoons at the Tropicana to play descarga, in the course of which we mixed jazz and Cuban rhythms.

Sometimes the descargas were held at four o’clock in the morning, at the end of the [Tropicana] show. The percussionist Guillermo Barreto was the one who animated them; we had received Roy Haynes, Kenny Drew, Sarah Vaughan, Richard Davis and many other musicians passing through; in fact, all the great names of jazz paraded through the Tropicana.

All of that could have been recorded, but no one was interested. So, that night Irving Price, the owner of a record store on Galiano Street, announces to me that producer Norman Granz is in town and that he can’t believe that Cuban musicians are capable of playing jazz.

Granz and Price ask me to go to the studio to record. It was September 16, 1952. So, I called some musicians, but I myself was late for the session, because in the morning I had another recording for RCA: I was going to accompany a singer! When I finally arrived at Panart’s studio, Granz had already left for the United States.

We called the orchestra The Andre’s All Star, after the name of Irving Price’s record store. We had decided to play classic jazz tunes, such as Distrust, Taboo, Sleep and Blues for Andre. At the end of the session, as there were still a few minutes available for the record, I started playing a riff, from which we improvised. We called that track “Con poco coco.”

The record was titled Cubano! and the participating musicians were all from the Tropicana cabaret: Gustavo Más, tenor saxophone; Alejandro Vivar (El Negro Vivar), trumpet; Kiki Hernández, double bass; Guillermo Barreto, timbal; Rolando Alfonso, tumbadora and Bebo Valdés, piano.

The works it contains are the same as those mentioned by Bebo Valdés, and the label, Mercury. In 1955, Bebo Valdés recorded, in the studios of Radio Progreso, Holiday Habana and She Adores the Latin Type, for the Decca label, which contained mambo, chachachá, bolero, jazz descarga, even jazz with bebop tendencies.

According to Luc Delannoy, in 1956 the Panart recorded Cuban Jam Session, with Julio Gutiérrez and Pedro Jústiz (Peruchín), as directors, and the musicians Alejandro Vivar (El Negro Vivar), Edilberto Escrich, Osvaldo Urrutia (Mosquifin), Emilio Peñalver, José Silva (CHombo), Juan Pablo Miranda, Salvador Vivar, Jesús Esquijarrosa (Chucho), Oscar Valdés, father, Marcelino Valdés, Walfredo de los Reyes and José Antonio Méndez. The participation of Israel López (Cachao) in a descarga did not occur until 1957, when the Panart recorded Descargas cubanas, with the participation of Cachao himself, Guillermo Barreto, Gustavo Tamayo, Rogelio Iglesias, Richard Egües, Andrés Hechavarría (El Niño Rivera), Rolito Pérez, Alfredo León, Arístides Soto (Tata Güines), Alejandro Vivar (El Negro Vivar), Generoso Jiménez, Orestes López (Macho), Emilio Peñalver and Virgilio Vixama. In other years, there were also recordings of downloads, and some unrecorded ones, such as those recalled by Leonardo Acosta at the Cuban Jazz Club, held between 1958 and 1960, with the participation of Pedro Jústiz (Peruchín), piano; Guillermo Barreto, drums and pailas, and Arístides Soto (Tata Güines), tumbadora (drums). This proves -or at least shows another side of the coin- that Bebo Valdés was one of the initiators of descarga in Cuba, a resource used by Cuban musicians in the most diverse instrumental formats, genres and styles of our popular music, as, for example, did the composers of the filin movement.

On June 8, 1952, with a band of twenty musicians, Bebo unveiled the batanga rhythm in the studios of RHC Cadena Azul; among the three singers in the orchestra was Beny Moré.

Bebo Valdés un virtuoso de la música cubana

That same year he travels to Mexico with the purpose of recording a disc with this new modality of Cuban music, which also included a new choreography; they were not successful, and, according to Bebo Valdés, “the batanga died a natural death”.

When he left Cuba in 1960 due to disagreements with the Cuban government, Bebo also abandoned his family, his wife Pilar Valdés and his five children (including Chucho). Bebo Valdés goes to Mexico, then moves to Los Angeles, California, where he works with singer Miguelito Valdés; from there he travels to Spain, where he records two albums as director of the orchestra that accompanies Chilean singer Lucho Gatica.

Later he toured England, France, Holland, Germany and Finland with the Lecuona Cuban Boys. In 1963 he settled in Sweden, and worked with the Hatuey Orchestra, a Swedish group playing Cuban music. In Sweden he formed a new family when he married in 1963.

International career

After thirty years of relative anonymity, on November 25, 1994, Valdés received a call from Paquito D’Rivera, who invited him to record a new album in Germany for the Messidor label. A new beginning in his career took place at the age of 76 with the recording of Bebo Rides Again.

He participated in Fernando Trueba’s film Calle 54, along with, among others, pianist and composer Chucho Valdés, Paquito D’Rivera, Elaine Elías, Chano Domínguez, Jerry González, Michel Camilo, Leandro J. Barbieri (Gato Barbieri), Ernesto Antonio Puente (Tito Puente), Arturo O’Farrill (Chico), Israel López (Cachao), Orlando Ríos (Puntilla) and Carlos Valdés (Patato).

In 2004 he traveled to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, to participate in Trueba’s film El milagro de Candeal, along with Carlinhos Brown, Marisa Monte, Mateus Aleluia and César Mendez.

Bebo y Chucho Valdés una verdadera dinastía de la Música Cubana

An integral musician capable of tackling the most diverse genres and styles of music, not only as a pianist and composer, but also as an orchestrator and orchestra conductor of sublime values; of solid technical training, both theoretical and pianistic, Bebo Valdés is one of the all-time greats of Cuban music. He was, with Israel López (Cachao) and Patato Valdés, nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for El arte del sabor, best traditional tropical album 2002.

In 2002, Fernando Trueba produced Lágrimas negras, an album that unites flamenco singer Diego el Cigala with Bebo Valdés on piano.

After its release in 2003, it became an international success, recognized with a Grammy, three Music Awards, an Ondas Award, five Amigo Awards, three Platinum Discs in Spain and one each in Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela. The New York Times praised the album as Best Latin Music Album of the Year and opened the doors to a tour of Paris, New York, London, Havana, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Mexico City, Madrid and Barcelona, among others. By the end of 2004 the album had sold more than 700,000 copies worldwide.

He retired to Benalmádena, a village in the province of Málaga (Spain), until his death in Stockholm (Sweden).

Chucho Valdés