The joys of being a member and getting advance notice. Mary was able to get tickets for this show before they sold out. We went with our friend Kath and had booked superior seats. Being regulars we knew to ask for the corner seat so that, after eating, we could shuffle round and all see comfortably without one of us having to swivel their head like an owl.
It being a Sunday we get no support act and two sets from the main artist which was a real treat. Couldn't find any reviews of this particular concert but he had a week's residency at Ronnie's three years ago which says it all:
Chucho Valdes/Irakere review – a Cuban hurricane of brass and bata
4 out of 5 stars. Ronnie Scott’s, London
The Cuban masters delivered a vibrant set that mixed intense big-band jazz, funk, rock, ritual percussion and vocals. John Fordham writes in the Guardian:
"Now celebrating their 40th anniversary under the brilliant pianist Chucho Valdes’s continuing leadership, Irakere are a hurricane where the Buena Vistas were a summer breeze. They launched a week’s residency at Ronnie Scott’s club on Monday with the elated parade of big-band jazz, funk, rock, classical music, and African-rooted ritual percussion and vocals that have been their trademark from the start." Full review...Mary says he's one of the best pianists we've seen. It is amazing how different the same piano sounds with different players at the keyboard. Although I cannot but help but think that the sound engineer might have a contribution there as well.
It was fascinating watching the drummer use a whole variety of weird percussion instruments to conjure up a soundscape but it did occur to me that the pull of the visual perturbed the musical balance. Listening with my eyes closed I got a better sense of the total arrangement.
Excellent stuff.
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