Familia: Tribute to Bebo & Chico brings together two of
the influential families in Afro-Cuban music in a celebration of their late
patriarchs: pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader Bebo Valdés and
composer, arranger and bandleader "Chico" O´Farrill.
It's a multi-generational tribute led by Arturo O´Farrill
and Chucho Valdés - their sons, major figures in their own right - but also
featuring the next generation, including pianist Leyanis Valdés, drummer Jessie
Valdés, trumpeter Adam O´Farrill and drummer Zack O´Farrill.
In keeping with the theme of Familia, sitarist Anoushka
Shankar, daughter of the great Ravi Shankar, is featured playing "Raja
Ram," a piece by executive and artistic producer Kabir Sehgal, inspired by
memories of his father.
Scheduled for September 15 release on Motéma Music, the
12-tracks presented in two discs, one featuring the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra,
the other the Third Generation Ensemble, are a mix of classics by Bebo
("Ecuación" and "Con Poco Coco,") and Chico ("Pura
Emoción" and "Pianitis") as well as originals by their sons and
grandsons. The project was recorded in the studio immediately following
sold-out live performances of the material as part of O'Farrill's Afro Latin
Jazz Alliance performance series at New York's Symphony Space in January 2017.
"I love that the name of the record is Familiaand that
the cover features pictures of everybody, like a family album," said
Valdés. "I love it because beyond the musical considerations, this is a
very emotional project."
While recording this album, "there were at least two
instances in which I literally had to hide in the bathroom to cry,"
recalled Valdés. "The first one was when I heard the orchestra playing my
dad's "Ecuación" [originally written for Dizzy Gillespie in 1982 and
orchestrated in 2004 for his "Suite Cubana"]; I remember he wrote
that suite in pencil and copied all the parts by hand. And when Arturo's
orchestra started playing, the sound put me back at the Tropicana, when I was a
kid and Bebo used to take me to the rehearsals - and I had to hide and cry
because the emotion was overwhelming. I felt my dad in the room." The
other especially emotional moment happened when recording "Tema de
Bebo," a piece he included as "Bebo" in his 2013 album
Border-Free.
"The recording session had a pinch-me feeling, watching
two maestros make music at the highest level. This collaboration is a watershed
moment not just for the music but for education in our country: how different
generations can work, learn, and imagine with each other. The workplace is
increasingly intergenerational, and this album shows us how to thrive,"
said Sehgal, who also wrote the liner notes.
For O'Farrill, Familia suggests a deeply personal follow up
to his latest album, Cuba: The Conversation Continues, which won "Best
Instrumental Composition" GRAMMY® for the track "The Afro Latin Jazz
Suite," as well as winning a Latin GRAMMY® for "Best Latin Jazz
Album." It's a conversation between Chico and Bebo, old friends and colleagues
in Cuba, who once shared music and a profound mutual admiration, continued and
expanded by other, familiar voices.
But Familia is also something else, he noted: It´s a
celebration of the creative spirit.
"It's important to me that Familia is not just a
nostalgia project," said O'Farrill. "It cannot be. Bebo and Chico
were both forward-looking creators so, for us, it was important not just to
recreate the music they left us, but to capture the zeal and vision they had
for progress. They were innovators. They wrote music that was radical for their
times."
As a tribute to that spirit, consider O'Farrill's own
"Three Revolutions," celebrating change and progress well beyond the
mere political, or Zack O'Farrill's adventurous "Gonki Gonki."
Reflecting on the recent political climate as it relates to
Familia, O'Farrill says, "It's sad to see progress made by a
family-oriented President be dismantled by a business-oriented one. Business
teaches that it's okay to lie, divide, manipulate and do whatever it takes to
succeed. Familia stands as a challenge to those people who think mounds of
glitter are what life is all about. We support the progress the United States
has made with Cuba. Our restored diplomatic relations are a sign of recognition
that familial obligations are more important than ideological or business
obligations, and that the first order of business is to see those families as
global."
As for the recording sessions, "there were many
unbelievable moments for me," he said. "I have a photograph of Bebo
and Chico standing together and looking very happy so when we first started the
session I taped this photo on a very high boom stand. So Chucho and I had our
backs to each other, and high up, between us, we had Bebo and Chico watching
over the music."
He recalled the recording of "Fathers, Mothers, Sons,
Daughters," for which, at one point, "We had everyone in the studio,
Leyanis, Jessie, Zack, Adam, a group of young trumpet players from Cuba, the
entire band and me and Chucho," said Arturo. "I just took a moment to
look at the assembled crowd and I had this overwhelming sense of
accomplishment, and thinking of Chico and Bebo."
Arturo "Chico" O´Farrill (October 28, 1921 - June
27, 2001) and Dionisio Ramón Emilio "Bebo" Valdés Amaro (October 9,
1918 - March 22, 2013) first worked together in Cuba at the fabled Tropicana
Club. O´Farrill wrote arrangements for the house orchestra and Valdés was the
house pianist. From there, their paths diverged widely. O´Farrill moved to New
York in the late 40s, lived in Mexico City from 1955 to 1965, when he returned
to Manhattan. Valdés left Cuba in self-exile in 1960, first to Mexico and then
Europe, settling eventually in Stockholm. Both lived most of their lives as
exiles and both unexpectedly found success again, performing and recording, in
their winter days, but their paths did not cross again many times.
"A beautiful moment I recall with them was while
touring in Spain with Chico in 1995," said O'Farrill. "I believe we
were in Madrid and Bebo came to see the band. And when they saw each other
there were a lot of hugs and tears. It was very emotional, very powerful. There
was a lot of love and respect between them. It was a beautiful thing to
witness."
As for the next generation, O'Farrill has played and
recorded with his sons Zack and Adam from an early age, but for Valdés, this
was the first time in the studio with Leyanis and Jessie.
"They already have recorded their first album, and
theirs is a very different music. It has nothing to do with me or Bebo,"
said Valdés, sounding like a proud dad. Meanwhile O´Farrill, spoke of how moved
he was with the way the young guys carried themselves.
"Zack, Adam, Leyanis and Jessie are incredible
musicians, and I keep thinking of how their music comes from their
humanity," he said. "We have pieces like the ones by Zack and Jessie
and you can hear how the vision and spirit of our forefathers has been carried
on by the generations that followed. I think Chico and Bebo would've been
proud."
Arturo O'Farrill & Chucho Valdés · Familia: Tribute to
Bebo & Chico
Label: Motéma Music · Release Date: September 15, 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment