Greatest Hits

Bebo Valdés became famous in the 21st century as the Cuban emigré pianist who recorded Lágrimas Negras, the stunning 2002 multi-award winning Grammy disc with flamenco singer Diego El Cigala. Back in the mid-20th century Valdés was resident pianist at the Tropicana, Havana’s top nightclub. This disc brings together recordings of the Sabor de Cuba orchestra, which Valdés and various Tropicana mates formed in 1957, and which ended when Valdés left Cuba in 1960 after falling out big time with the 1959 revolutionaries. Fuelled by legendary Sunday afternoon bebop jams at the Tropicana, often with visiting US musicians, Sabor de Cuba evolved: a sterling group of top, young musicians who created a vibrant sound full of rich solos, playing pieces composed by Valdés as well as others with hugely confident swing. Going back to early tunes like ‘Desconfianza’, recorded in 1952, this is a cosmopolitan set. While there’s a strong Cuban jazz sound here, even those unfamiliar with Valdés will find it a trip down memory lane, as the sound is so evocative of 50s US jazz – showing how that itself was heavily lead by Cuban styles. It was the height of the mambo boom, so from 1955 there’s ‘Music Box Mambo’, ‘Mississippi Mambo,’ ‘Mambo Cantabile’ as well as the ‘Big Shot Cha Cha Chá’.

Valdés was a star from early in his career – like his son Chucho today – and his conservatoire studies only enriched the popular musical skills gained from Afro-Cuban Yoruba ritual which influenced his percussive playing style. He’s still playing at 91, and this is a rich addition to his significant back catalogue.