MERCURYNEWS: “Chucho Valdés and his Cuban sound”, por Andrew Gilbert

There's nothing subtle about the name of pianist Chucho Valdés' new band, the Afro-Cuban Messengers. But then, with his hulking frame, awe-inspiring virtuosity and oversized contribution to jazz and Latin American music, subtly isn't really part of the Valdés package.
He christened his latest ensemble as a tip of the hat to the late drum legend Art Blakey, whose band the Jazz Messengers served for more than three decades as a proving ground and launchpad for a platoon of jazz masters. Valdés has long played a similar role in Cuba, ever since he started recruiting dazzling young musicians for later incarnations of Irakere, the seminal band he co-founded in 1973.
Fresh talent
Always on the lookout for fresh talent, Valdés assembled his Messengers largely by scouting for recent graduates from Havana's National School of the Arts. Featured on his Grammy Award-winning 2010 album "Chucho's Steps" (Four Quartets), the band he brings to the Bay Area for a Lively Arts performance Sunday at Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium and an SFJazz Spring Season concert Monday at Herbst Theatre includes tenor saxophonist Carlos Miyares Hernandez and trumpeter Reinaldo Melián Álvarez.
"Carlos is part of the new jazz generation, one of the brightest stars that Cuba has," says Valdés, 70, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. "Reinaldo used to perform with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and he's a tremendous talent."