No better name can stand for the fusion of Cuban “son” and American jazz than Dionisio de Jesús “Chucho” Valdés Rodriguez. He was there from the start when Latin Jazz emerged as something completely new. Chucho Valdés performed with jazz greats including Chick Corea and Roy Hargrove; he was a member of the groundbreaking Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, as well as the director of the world-famous Tropicana Club orchestra at Havanna. The legendary Cuban band Irakere was founded by Valdés, who remained its driving force for almost a quarter century. Valdés is now 80 years old but still preserves the same gripping musical energy, as he will once more impressively prove at the Philharmonie in Essen on the occasion of his seventh appearance at the Ruhr Piano Festival!